Shattered
by SRCL
Summary: Olivia Donovan never belonged to the club, never belonged to a Son, but still she was affected by it. After losing what she holds most dear to its enemies, she turns into a woman on a mission. To find and punish the ones who hurt her, claiming vengence for what they took from her.
1. Chapter 1

Jax Teller sprinted through the dark alleys; the fear he was feeling making the adrenaline pump through out his veins. Her desperate cry for help through the phone plagued his mind. He could not get the sound of it out of his head. The rain fell heavily from the sky, his sneakers clad feet making the water splash around them as he continued running. "Liv? Where you at?" he called out, praying that she'd still be conscious. No answer. "Liv!" he roared once again.

Standing still for a moment, he was trying to capture any sign that she was close by. A small whimper made him swirl around. "Jax?" her voice was weak, broken. It didn't take long for his eyes to spot her delicate frame in one of the dark corners of the alley. The scene in front of him made him catch his breath, and not in a good way. Liv was lying on the ground, surrounded by a pool of dark, red liquid; blood. There was a lot of it too. He remained frozen for merely a second before rushing forward and falling to his knees beside her.

"Jesus Christ" he exclaimed as her face was fully revealed to him. It was covered with bruises that had not been there this morning, but which had already begun shifting in colours; blue, red, yellow, purple. Staring into her dimmed blue eyes, he pulled out his pre-paid phone and dialled 911. "I need an ambulance to…" he said, but paused to desperately look for a sign of where the hell they were.

"Westminster nineteen" Liv whispered her usually soft voice raspy.

"Westminster nineteen" Jax repeated. After swiftly informing the woman on the other end of the line what had happened, or at least the parts he was aware of, he hung up and turned his full attention towards the woman lying on the ground. He gently touched her cheek with the palm of his hand, carefully stroking away the tears that were slowly sliding down them. "Who did this to you, Liv?" he questioned, trying his best to keep his voice calm even though he could feel a fire of anger flaring up within him. Liv's blue eyes glanced away leading him to realize that it must be because of him and the club he belonged to or otherwise she wouldn't have a problem telling him. "Tell me!" he said forcefully. Why would someone who wanted to hurt the club go after Liv? She was not an Old Lady, never had been. Her connection to the club went through him and Opie, she'd been the third member of their group; their best friend.

Liv shook her head. "No" she said quietly. "Jax, tell Ope and the kids that I love 'em, aight?" she asked him, a barely noticeable smile spreading over her lips as she spoke of the third and missing member of what others used to refer to as the 'Three Musketeers" and his kids, Ellie and Kenny.

Jax shook his head. "Don't you talk like that Liv, you ain't dying tonight" he informed her, refusing to even let that thought enter his mind.

Liv laughed weakly at his reply. "You decide over a lot of things, Jax, but not if I die or not. I need you to tell them that I love 'em. And I love you, Jax, you're my brother. And Abel, tell him I love him too when he grows up. Show him a couple of photos, will you? Don't wanna be a complete stranger" she mumbled, almost incoherently.

Jax shook his head. "You ain't gonna be a stranger, you're his Aunt Liv for Christ's sake. You're gonna be the one who spoils him rotten, comes to his football games and nags him about homework. He needs you in his life. We need you in our lives. That's why you ain't dying tonight. But you gotta' be quiet, save your strength" he told her, stroking his hand over her dark hair with affection. He could hear the sirens coming closer for every second that passed by. Turning his gaze to the woman in his arms again, he panicked when he saw that she'd closed her eyes during the seconds he'd torn his gaze from her. "No!" he yelled, panic and fear filling his cracked voice. "Wake the fuck up, Liv!" he shouted at her, but to no use; she didn't open her eyes. As the ambulance speed through the corner of the alley the men in it were met by a heartbreaking scene; the blonde man was on his knees on the ground, rocking back and forth with a woman around the age of thirty in his arms, tears sliding down his cheeks and an agonized scream escaping from his lips as they sat surrounded by the young woman's blood…


	2. Chapter 2

First off I want to apologize for not updating for a couple of days, I've been in New York and enjoying myself. I just got home today and received the news that a close relative of mine have passed away. I decided to update anyways as I had a chapter pretty much chapter is written out of different people's perspectives; Gemma, Opie, Juice and Tara. Would love to hear what you think about it. Hope you enjoy reading it.

* * *

Standing in front of the full-body mirror in her bedroom, Gemma brushed her hair carefully. Narrowing her eyes as she leaned forward she realized that she needed to get some new highlights. Her brown eyes travelled over the bruises that still covered her face, but they were not what plagued her. The bruises and scars which had etched themselves upon her mind were the worst; they were the ones that haunted her night as well as day. She hadn't been able to sleep for days; the nightmares woke her up constantly. The loud sound of her cell phone ringing broke the silence. With a sigh she laid the brush down and walked over to the table by the bed where the phone was lying on the bedside table. Flipping it open she answered the call. "Hello" she stated, wondering who the fuck would be calling at this time of the night. "Mom it's me" Gemma didn't need to hear more than those three words to know that something was off; she knew her son well and the tone in his voice was one that sent off warning signals within Gemma.

"What's happened, Jax?" she questioned, possible scenarios popping up in her mind, all quite terrifying. Had those monsters gone after someone else? Who was it?  
"It's Liv" he stated making Gemma's brown eyes widen.  
"Tell me, Jackson" she ordered her son. Gemma was a strong woman, she always had been. These last couple of weeks was taking their toll on her though. She sunk down on the bed, her hands shaking. Liv was the closest thing she'd ever had to a daughter, and Gemma worried about her like she was her own.  
"She's been attacked" Jax informed his mom. Anger swelled up within Gemma as she realized that the monsters that attacked her must be the ones that went after Liv as well. Why the fuck would anyone else attack a woman like Liv? She was not the kind of woman who had a lot of enemies, but the club did. "I'm down at S:t Thomas, it's critical ma" he told her, the fear of losing his friend apparent.  
Gemma drew a sharp breath. "I'm coming" she stated before hanging out and rushing out of the room…

* * *

He sped through town, wishing that he'd been able to take the bike instead of the car, but since he had to

bring the kids with him it would have been impossible. The thought of losing his best friend, a woman he considered a sister, was scaring the living shit out of him. He'd already lost the most important person in his life; he couldn't loose Liv as well. Pushing the gas pedal to the floor he ran past the red light. "Daddy, where are we going?" his daughter asked from the backseat, her voice tired and she was rubbing the sleepiness out of her blue eyes.

Opie glanced in the review mirror, meeting the worried gaze of his little girl. "We're gonna go to the hospital, El" he replied as he made a sharp right turn.  
Kenny looked up from his game. "Why?" he asked curiously.  
Opie sighed, thinking about how he would explain to his kids that they might lose their aunt just like they lost their mom a couple of weeks ago. "Your aunt ain't feeling well, we're gonna see how she's doing" he replied, hoping that giving them an answer would cease their questions at least for now.  
Pulling into the parking lot at the hospital, he took the first parking spot he could find and shut off the engine. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, trying to collect some strength to face whatever he'd be forced to face inside those glass doors. "Alright, let's go kids" he ordered, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. There was no need to scare them more than they already were. He took off towards the hospital, with Ellie and Kenny desperately trying to keep up with their father's swift pace.

* * *

He paced nervously back and forth in the waiting area which had filled up with members of the SAMCRO family for the last ten minutes. Things were getting close to rowdy in the room: no one had come to inform them of what was going on and to say that they were not patient people was quite an understatement.

Dragging a hand over his Mohawk he collapsed onto a chair between Chibs and Tig with a frustrated sigh. "Fuck's taking so long" he muttered, angry with being forced to wait so long to receive news of what was happening with his friend. Because that's what she was, his friend. Sure he'd met her through the club, mostly Jax and Opie, but he truly considered her his best friend. Being one of the few people around the club that didn't believe he was a total idiot had made her someone he respected from the beginning. She understood that even though he might not have the social skills which some of his brother possessed, he wasn't a complete idiot and she seemed to understand him on levels that the other members of the club were not capable of. Juice sat on the blue plastic chair, his harsh glare burning a hole into floor trying to figure out who the fuck would do this to Liv. Unless she had unknown enemies it must be related to the club.  
Heavy steps could be heard coming down the hall; Juice lifted his gaze and saw the Tacoma Killer enter the waiting area which frankly surprised him since he thought Happy had already returned to Tacoma. Apparently so did the others as they all seemed surprised by his presence. Everyone except Tig. At the moment Juice really didn't care; all he wanted was to find out how his friend was doing.

* * *

It was with heavy steps that she walked towards the waiting area, her journal clutched to her chest. She was fully aware of the fact it'd be packed with members and friends of the club whom would all expect answers. They would not like the answers she'd give them though. Tara had known Liv since their days in school. Before high school they'd never been friends, it wasn't like they couldn't talk or work together, but they weren't friends. Then Tara began dating Jax and in the beginning of their relationship she'd been quite jealous of Liv. The beautiful young woman had everyone wrapped around her finger, including Jax, and Tara couldn't stand the guy she was dating was so close with another girl. Her insecurities had been eating her alive. It wasn't until Liv had sat down with her and made it clear that she wasn't interested in Jax in that kind of way and had sworn she thought of him as a brother, and nothing more. Pushing the double doors open she walked into the room and was immediately attacked with questions.

"How is she?"

"Is it bad?"

"How she doin', doc?"

"Will she make it?"

Hoping that it would make them quiet down, she held up a hand. The crowd fell silent almost instantly. "Liv is in critical condition at the moment. She has multiply injuries; four fractured ribs, a broken arm, a severe concussion as well as close head injury" she informed them gravely, waiting for the next storm of questions. It didn't come though. They all seemed to be in shock.  
One hand raised in the back though. Tara turned her gaze towards Juice who looked worried. "What does close head injury mean?" he questioned.  
"It means that she has swelling and bleeding within the brain. It's a life threatening condition" she answered brutally honestly. Over the years she'd learned that it was better to give the family of the patient the entire truth, even thought it might be a harsh one.  
Tara could feel someone looking at her and turned her gaze towards Gemma. The sadness, anger and guilt were apparent in Gemma's brown eyes. The older woman walked forward slightly. "What are you doing for her?" she questioned.  
Tara sighed heavily. "There's nothing we can do at the moment, right now we can only for her to wake-up and hope that there is no permanent damage to the brain" Tara explained to the woman as well as the others who were standing around and listening.  
After the crowd had scattered slightly, Tara walked up to Jax. Placing her hand tenderly on his cheek, she looked into those blue eyes. "I'm so sorry, Jax" she said, pulling the blonde man into a hug.

Jax held her flush against him, almost afraid to let her go. "Please, Tara, save her" he begged quietly in her ear.  
"I'll do everything I can" Tara responded, her voice cracking slightly…


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey guys, here's another chapter. I'm sorry if there are any grammatical or language errors, English is not my first language. Would love what you think about this story. Lots of love._

* * *

Tara Knowles stood by the counter, looking through some papers when she heard the stiletto heels coming down the hall. In Charming there were not many women who walked in those kinds of shoes. Slowly turning around she met the gaze of Gemma Teller-Morrow. She was a unique one, Gemma. She would make you scared as shit, but at the same time you wanted to be just like her. Gemma demanded respect and got it. There was a lot that she could learn from Gemma, but Tara would never become the kind of woman that Gemma was. It just wasn't in her. Well, at least she didn't think she could have. For many years Tara had believed that women like Gemma Teller-Morrow could handle anything that life threw at them. When Tara had just begun dating Jax, at sixteen, she'd seen Gemma handle the death of her husband John Teller. Never had she seen the Queen crack or shed a tear, at least not in front of her son or his girlfriend.

When Abel was born, with terrible chances of surviving, she'd seen Gemma step up and be there for her grandson when his father wasn't. She would sit in the room with Abel and read to him. It was a side of Gemma that Tara hadn't witnessed before. An almost vulnerable side.

When she'd come in with Unser, and Gemma had asked her to keep the secret, Tara saw yet another side. And the night that Liv had been brought in, she'd seen the fear in Gemma's eyes, the guilt. Tara couldn't help but question her choice to not share what happened to Gemma with anyone, could she have prevented the attack on the innocent woman? With a sigh she tried to force herself to stop thinking those thoughts. It wouldn't help anyone at the moment. What was done was done.

"Gemma" she greeted the older woman who merely nodded in reply.  
"Which room is she in?" Gemma questioned. "Three-hundred-six" she informed the woman who nodded and walked down the hall. Tara sighed once again as she watched her walk away. There was not a lot in this world that would make Gemma Teller-Morrow break down, this was one of them.

Gemma sunk down in the chair that someone had pulled forward to stand beside the bed. Her dark gaze travelled over the features of the younger woman. The bruises stood out against her pale skin. "Shit" Gemma cursed as the harsh reality hit her once again. She'd watched this woman grow up, known her since she was five years old and her father moved into the house next to them. The older woman had always wondered how the fuck Liv had turned out the way she did, all nice, polite and kind, with the shit people bringing her into the world and raising her. Frankie Donovan was an alcoholic who let his daughter take care of him rather than get his shit act together and step up. Connie Donovan was even worse; apparently she'd taken off before her daughter was more than a couple of weeks. Left her daughter with a raving alcoholic. Who the fuck would do that?

Gemma leaned forward slightly and grabbed the right hand of Liv which rested beside her on the bed. "It's my fault, baby" Gemma confessed, admitting the guilt she felt out-loud for the first time. "You getting' attacked, it's my fault" Gemma explained even though she was quite certain that Liv couldn't hear shit of what she was saying. She just needed to tell someone, even though that someone might not respond to it. "Those shitheads who did this to ya, they did it to me too" Gemma told the unconscious woman in the bed beside her. "These bastards are sick people, Liv" she continued. Gemma leaned back in the chair, crossing her legs as she tried to remain calm. This was not the place to become emotional. It was filled with people who should not see the tears sliding down her cheeks. As she heard footsteps approaching the room, she wiped the tears away from her cheeks and drew a deep breath.

The door opened behind her making her glance over her shoulder. A male nurse stood in the doorway with Liv's journal charter in his hands. "Ma'am, I have to check up on her. You're welcome to stay if you wish" he told her, the look on his face making it very clear that he knew who the woman in the chair was.  
Gemma shook her head. "I'm going" she said as she grabbed her bag which she'd placed beside her chair. "Take care of her" she said as she walked past the nurse who merely nodded and went to work. As she stepped outside her gaze locked with the one of Tara. Looking into the eyes of the doctor, Gemma could see the doubt. Anger once again filled Gemma, not because of the doubts that Tara was experiencing, but because those thoughts haunted her mind as well. Walking forward she glared at the doctor. "You think this is one me, don't ya?" Gemma asked her, the tone in her voice venomous. Before Tara could respond, Gemma stormed off making nurses and visitors step out of the way.

* * *

An hour later Tara was sitting in her office, going through some paper-work when there was a knock on the door. "Come in" she called out as she lifted her gaze from the papers lying in front of her. One of the nurses, Dwayne Jones, stepped through the door. "Dr. Knowles are you the doctor responsible for Olivia Donovan" he asked her. Tara nodded her head, a frown appearing on her face. "I am, has something happened?" she asked, pushing the chair back slightly ready to stand up and run if needed. The man shook his head. "No, she's still stable, but we received the results from the tests we did when she came in" he replied. "I'll let you look them over yourself" he said before placing the results on her table. "Thanks" Tara called out before the nurse walked out of the room.

She was about to look through the results when her cell-phone went off. Glancing down at the screen she pushed the answer button. "Hey" she said softly.  
"How's your day going?" Jax asked from the other end of the line.  
Tara sighed and leaned back in the chair, blowing some loose strands of hair from her face. "Alright I guess" she said, the frustrated tone in her voice not escaping Jax.  
"What's up, Tara? Is it Liv?" he asked, his voice concerned. A few moments of silence passed. "Tara" he said once more pulling her out of her thoughts.  
"Yeah, well, I'm just worried about her I guess" she admitted.  
She could hear him sigh. "Me too, Tara, we all are" he stated, both of them remaining quiet for a moment. "She's strong though, girl has been through lot of shit, she'll make it" Jax said, the tone in his voice making Tara believe that he said it to convince himself more than her.  
"You're right, Jax" she tried to comfort him. This was his best friend. A friend he considered a sister for Christ's sake. Tara should be the one who was comforting him and not the other way around.  
"Listen, I gotta go, have some club stuff to take care off. See you at home tonight, aight?" "Yeah, be careful" Tara said.  
"I always am" Jax responded before hanging up.

With a sigh Tara pushed the phone into her pocket once again, before grabbing the paper with the results of the testing done on Liv. "Jesus fucking Christ" she swore as she finished with them. Pulling a hand through her messy brown hair, she re-read them. If these results were accurate there were going to be stir up a shit-storm the club really didn't need right now. That Jax didn't really need right now.

Pushing herself out of the chair she grabbed her stuff and headed out the door. With a swift pace she walked towards the room at the end of the hall. She froze in her steps before pushing the door open though. Through the tiny, squared window on the door she could see a Son sitting in the chair beside her bed. That in itself did not surprise her; she was what people would refer to as the princess of the club, but the person she found sitting beside her was a man she thought harboured no feelings towards people other than the club. He was a loyal soldier, but she'd never seen him show any kind of emotion towards any of his brothers or other people around the club. Granted she did not know him very well. She'd never noticed him and Liv interacting much and Liv had never told her anything about the two of them, he didn't seem like a man who would come and visit someone he wasn't that close with. The only reason she could come up with him being there was that he'd been assigned the job to protect her. That was probably the case. Tara pushed the handle to the door down and entered the room.  
The biker instantly looked over his shoulder, shifting his gaze from the young woman in the bed to the female doctor standing in the doorway. "Doc" he greeted, his voice as raspy as usual.  
"Happy" she replied politely. "I need to examine, Liv" she explained to him.  
He nodded and heaved himself out of the chair. "Aight" he said and walked out of the room, but not before giving the woman in the bed one last glance.

Tara began the examination and it didn't take long before she could draw the conclusion that the results had indeed been accurate. With a tired sigh she collected her stuff; she needed to speak with a colleague about this. As she was about to walk out the door she froze in her step once again. This time it was not the sight of the quiet biker, it was the silent, soft voice that spoke from behind her.  
"Tara?"  
Slowly turning around she met the tired, confused gaze of Olivia Donovan…


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey guys, here's another chapter. I'd love to hear what you think about it, because I'm kind of unsure of the story. Anyhow, hope you enjoy it. _

* * *

Tara looked down at the young woman lying in the bed with wide, shocked eyes for a moment, before snapping out of it and getting into working mode. "How are you feeling, Liv?" Tara questioned, studying the woman intently.

"I'm alright" she said, biting her lip nervously before asking the next question. "What happened to my baby, Tara?" she asked the fear clear in her eyes. Even though she might be able to control the emotions from showing on her face, her pale blue eyes betrayed her every time. Liv didn't need the woman to give her an answer out-loud though; the look in Tara's eyes and how the doctor avoided her gaze told her everything she needed to know. Frankly she didn't give shit about the details, the fact that she'd lost her unborn son or daughter made everything else seem unimportant.

Tara not knowing what to do; grabbed Liv's hand and squeezed it trying to provide some comfort for the woman. Liv shook her head and pulled back her hand. "No" she stated, before glancing away as she felt the tears brimming her eyes. "Get out" she said sharply.

"Liv I nee-" Tara began saying but was cut off by Liv. "If it's about examining me, get me another doctor. And get the fuck out of here" Liv told her harshly.

Tara looked at her with wide eyes, shocked by the harsh way she spoke to her. Liv was usually extremely calm, kind and polite, this was a side of her she had not seen before. Considering what she just been told, it was no wonder she acted the way she did though. Tara nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll sign your case over to another doctor" she informed her friend. "I'm sorry, Liv" she said before leaving the room.

As soon as the door closed the tears began flowing down Liv's cheeks. What the fuck had she done to deserve this? She was no angel, but through out her thirty years of living on this earth she'd tried to make the right choices, actrespectfully the people who deserved it and take care of those who could not care for themselves. And the fact that she'd lost her child to a club which she was not even a member off, made her so angry. Why would anyone go after her? If her attackers wanted to attack the club why not go after Gemma, Tara or anyone else that was considered an Old Lady? She was merely a friend of the club.

Could they have found out somehow about the fact that she was somewhat involved romantically with a Son? It was doubtful though, not even the members of the club knew, except for Tig who probably suspected something was going on with the two. Their relationship wasn't exactly a normal one, about three months ago they'd hooked up and since then they'd talked from time to time, when he was in town to do a job for the club. No way were they officially involved though, and there were no labels to describe what they were to each other. Apparently he didn't do labels. Which was fine with her; she had no need to be his girlfriend and definitely not his Old Lady. About three weeks ago she'd found out she was pregnant, ten weeks approximately. She'd planned to tell him, but then he hooked up with a crow-eater and brought her to his room right in front of Liv which had made her upset for some reason. Liv blamed the hormones for that one. After that she'd never gotten around to tell him. And now there was no need to tell him because there was no longer a baby growing inside of her. They'd killed him or her, and by doing that they killed a piece of Liv as well.

From an early age she'd been maternal, it might have grown from her taking care of her father from a young age as her mother was never around and her father was too drunk to care for himself. So even though she'd been expecting a child with a man who probably had no plans of having a child, ever, she'd been okay with it. She would manage. Over the years she'd never found the right guy to settle down with which lead to her not having children before turning thirty. It wasn't that she didn't want them though because she did. By now her entire body was shaking while she cried for her unborn child…

* * *

Jax was under the hood of the car when he heard the familiar sound of the Cutlass as it came to a stop outside. He rolled out and pushed himself off. As soon as he saw Tara he realized that something was wrong; she had that look on her face. "What's wrong?" he asked her, immediately assuming the worst.  
"Liv's awake" she informed him.

The blue eyes grew wide with surprise, and filled with joy. "That's good, ain't it?" he asked, confused over the frowning look upon his lady's face.

"Yeah, it's great" Tara said, but the look was still upon her face. "It's just that, she kinda' snapped at me" she confessed.

Jax frowned slightly; it wasn't like Liv to snap at someone. Most of the time she was the one who calmed everyone else down rather than being the one upset. "It's probably the shock, Tara, you shouldn't take it personally" he assured her.

Tara nodded. "I know" she stated. "It's just that she's never been snappy with me before, hell even when she found out I was leaving she was calm and just told me that it would break you, and wished me luck. I guess I'm shocked even though it's not surprising in view of what happened" she said, more to herself than Jax. Tara knew that from the girlfriend perspective she should probably tell him what had happened to his best friend and the loss she was experiencing at the moment. From the doctor perspective she was aware that she could never do such a thing though, it was patient confidentiality.

Jax nodded. "Yeah, I'm gonna go see her, want me to talk to her?" he asked her.

Tara shook her head. "Nah, leave it. She doesn't need to hear that right now. She just needs her best friend" she told him. Tara looked across the lot and spotted Gemma leaning against the door frame. "I've got to go; I'll see you at home later, right?" Tara asked.

Jax nodded with a small smile. "Yeah" he said before leaning forward and placing a kiss on her lips. Jax watched her walk over to his mother before heading towards the club house. As he walked through the door he spotted Opie sitting at the bar together with Piney, the former sipping on a beer while the later had a bottle of Tequila and a shot glass placed in front of him. Jax sat down on a stool next to his best friend and the crow eater with bleached hair and barely there clothing placed a bottle of beer in front of him. Jax nodded his thanks before turning towards his brother. "Liv is awake" he told them.

Opie's head turned sharply towards him, the lack of enthusiasm not escaping his attention. "Yeah?" he asked, Jax nodded while gulping down his beer. "We should head to S:t Thomas then, show our support" Opie stated.

Jax nodded in agreement, although he was still looking a bit lost in his own head. "Is there something I need to know?" Opie asked his friend, as Piney rose from his seat.

"I'll let ya boys talk this shit out. Send the girl my best wishes" he said as he placed a hand upon his son's shoulder before walking off.  
Opie turned expectantly towards his friend as Jax dragged a hand through his hair. "Tara said she snapped at her" Jax stated.

Opie shrugged. "It ain't surprising considering what she's gone through. Probably just the shock" he replied.

Jax nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's what I said. But think about it man" Jax stated, and then paused to take a sip of his beer. "Liv has no enemies, she ain't the kinda' person to have 'em. The club on the other hand has lots of 'em. The shit she went through probably lands on the feet of the club. We are the only reason someone would have to hurt someone like her" Jax explained his thinking.

Opie nodded a grave look upon his face. "I've been thinkin' the same thing" he admitted.

"If she snaps like that on Tara, imagine what it would do to have us there. Probably hurt her more than comfort her" Jax reasoned.

The two of them remained silent for a few minutes before Opie broke the silence. "Well, I'm headin' over there. If she wants us gone there ain't anything we can do about it, but I wanna show that I'm there for her" he told his friend. "You coming with?" he questioned.

Jax nodded and quickly emptied his bottle of bear. "Yeah, let's head there right now" he stated.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, this chapter is slightly shorter than the others, but I'll make it up by making the next chapter slightly longer. Would love to hear what you think. Enjoy reading it :)

* * *

Another doctor had arrived shortly after Tara left to check up on her and do some additional tests. He'd desperately tried to communicate with her, but at the moment she really didn't feel like talking to anyone. The only thing she wanted was to be left alone to mourn her unborn child. She was aware of the fact that when Tara told Jax, which most likely wouldn't be too long, the Sons and friends of the club would come and visit whether she wanted them to or not. Because that was what one was supposed to when a person connected to the club was hurt, didn't really matter if you liked them or not. It was a show of support. She might not be a member or an Old Lady, however she knew how the club worked and its rules. The club is family and you take care of the family. At least that's what she'd heard Gemma say since she was about five years old and the friendship between her, Jax and Opie began.

Frankly she didn't know how she felt about them coming and visiting. They might be family, but they both belonged to the club and Liv was fully aware of that. For as long as she'd known them they'd wanted to be a part of the club which their fathers created; they longed and dreamed of becoming Sons. There was no question about them prospecting for the club, even after the death of John Teller.

The club was never an issue for Liv; other parents might have objected to their daughter spending time with two boys who were connected to that kind of people; however Liv never had a present parent so she on her own made that choice. And up until now she'd never doubted it. She considered Jax and Opie her brothers, her family and she loved their children as an aunt would love her nephews and nieces, but what happened to her that night three days ago was on the club; her losing her unborn child was on the club. The last words of her attacker haunted her night and day.

"_This is a message to the Sons. Stop selling_"

Liv shuddered at the memory of the voice whispering in her ear as she was lying on her stomach, face plastered towards the concrete, salty tears slowly sliding down her cheeks. As the door opened she snapped out of her memories and directed her gaze towards the bald man who just stepped through it. "What the fuck are you doing here?" she questioned him. It wasn't the fact that he was here which angered her, although she hadn't exactly been happy, no pun intended, with him before the attack. It was the sight of his cut with the reaper on it that made the anger rise within her.

Anger flashed through his dark eyes. "Watch how you fuckin' talk to me" he warned her, pointing his finger at her.

Liv rolled her eyes at his threat. "Why the fuck would I do that? Ain't like you can do anythin' that hasn't been done to me already" she pointed out. She couldn't stop herself, the anger had been rising within her since she first awoke and she needed to get it out someway. She was just so angry. At the club. At the attackers. At herself. For being helpless and not being able to fight them. She was so angry and he was the easiest target at the moment.

Within a second after the words left her mouth, he was in front of her, their faces merely inches apart. His dark eyes were as black as the night. "I kill people for talkin' back to me like that, remember that little girl" he warned her.

The two words at the end of the sentence made her lose it; there was nothing she despised more than people acting like arrogant idiots and those words were so damn condescending.

"You mad because I ain't afraid of the big bad Tacoma killer? Well, fuck you Hap. Someone killing me would be a fuckin' blessing right now!" she exploded, her words laced with anger, pain and frustration she was experiencing at the moment.

The man in front of her looked like he wanted to backhand her right there, clenching his fists tightly by his side. Liv glared at him. "Well, go on, hit me, backhand me, do whatever the fuck you want, killer" she taunted him.

Most people wouldn't dare to do such a thing, which was probably a wise choice because had it been anyone else in that bed, he would have killed them for talking to him the way she did. Four months ago he'd sworn that he'd never raise a hand towards her though, and he intended on keeping that promise. Taking a deep breath he backed away from the pissed off woman in front of him. "What? You ain't gonna do nothin'?" she asked. "Fuckin' coward" she muttered angrily as she didn't receive an answer.

That was the last drop for him. Swirling around he punched the wall, making a dent in it. Slowly he turned towards the woman in the bed, whose blue eyes had grown wide as she finally calmed down slightly, realizing exactly what she'd said to him during the last couple of minutes. "Hap, I-" she began saying, but was interrupted with him shaking his head.

Those dark eyes pierced into her blue ones, the anger flashing through them as he pointed a finger towards her. "You ungrateful bitch. Don't fuckin' talk to me" he stated before storming out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him. Liv felt the tears burn in her eyes once again. Why the fuck had she done that? She just fucked it up with one of the few people who could have helped her through this shit. He was right; she'd been an ungrateful bitch.

* * *

As they walked down the hall they could hear some shouting going on. They exchanged looks as they quickened their pace. When they'd almost reached the door and were both in defensive mode, the door was ripped open and Happy of all people stormed out. Before either Jax or Opie could say something, Happy had stormed past the two of them, most likely not noticing his brothers because of how angry he was. "What the fuck is Hap doing here?" Opie whispered to his brother with a confused look on his face, who shrugged with an equally confused look on his face. "No fucking idea, brother. Might as well head in there, maybe we'll get some answers" he reasoned and opened the door, sticking his head inside.

What he saw made him push the door completely open and head inside. Without any hesitation he pulled the crying girl into his embrace.

Opie's eyes widened slightly as he took in the sight in front of him. Jax was sitting on the side of the bed, the bruised woman in his embrace as he gently stroked her brown hair while he held her close to him.

As he glanced up his gaze locked with Opie's. One benefit of knowing each other their entire lives was that they did not need words to communicate. This attack, what those bastards had done to her that night, it had broken her. During the twenty-five years they'd known her they had not once seen her break down like this. She'd never been the one to cry, even when everyone would expect it of her. Seeing her crying frankly scared the shit out of the two of them.

Opie slowly walked over to sit on the other side of the bed, the petite frame of their friend allowing both of them to sit comfortably on the bed beside her. Opie wrapped his arm around her and they remained in that position; just sitting there, two friends embracing a third friend who at the moment needed them more than ever.


	6. Chapter 6

Three weeks had passed since the day she'd fought with Happy and broken down in front of Jax and Opie. It had been three slow weeks to say the least. To some part she was to blame; she'd pushed the Sons away when they came to visit. Some of them had given up after their first visit, like Happy, while others, like Juice and Chibs, had been as stubborn as mules and stuck around even though she continued to insulting them. No matter what she said, no matter how shitty she treated them, they continued to come. It still, after all these years living close to the club, amazed her how people who were able to do what they did, had such loving natures.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in" Liv called out as she pushed herself up into a sitting position on the bed, wincing as the pain shot through her body.

Slowly the door was opened and Tara stuck her head inside. After their last encounter she was slightly nervous about going in there, but still felt like she needed to check up on her friend before she went home. The doctor who had become responsible for her case had updated Tara through out the three weeks and had heard from him that Liv was begging to go home; apparently she despised staying at the hospital and since she'd been taken off the ICU she was technically allowed to sign herself out although the hospital did not recommend her doing so. "Hey" Tara said softly as she entered the room.

There was a silent moment between the two before Liv decided to speak up. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you, T" she apologized. "It wasn't fair; you were just doing your job. I just…" she continued, but stopped to try to find the right words.

Tara gave her a small smile. "Don't you worry about that, Liv" she assured her friend. "I can't say that I know how you feel, but if you ever need someone to talk to feel free to come to me" she offered.

"Thank you" Liv said softly, grateful for the offer. "You told Jax?" she questioned, knowing that there was no need to explain exactly what she was asking about.

Tara shook her head in an answer. "No I didn't. First of all it's your decision if you wanna tell him or not. Second your case falls under patient confidentiality. I couldn't have told him even if I wanted to" she explained to the woman sitting on the edge of the bed.

Liv nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, I would have understood if you felt a need to tell him though" Liv stated, being completely honest with the woman in front of her.

Tara nodded, and decided to change the subject. "So how are you feeling?" she questioned, looking intently at the woman to be certain that she was telling the truth.

Liv shrugged. "Alright I guess, considering how I was feeling three weeks ago" she stated with a weak smile.

Tara nodded. "Well, I'll come around the house tonight and check up on you." She told her friend and as she saw Liv opening her mouth to protest, she continued. "And I won't take no for an answer, Liv" she said with a smirk.

Liv sighed and dragged a hand through her messy, brown hair. "Well, I'll be saying yes then" she replied with a light chuckle.

Tara nodded in agreement. "Good answer" she joked. Liv chuckled. "Thought you'd like it" she responded. A wide smile spread over Tara's lips, it almost felt like before the attack between the two of them. Almost.

* * *

Half an hour later there was a knock on the door. "Come in" Liv shouted from her place on the bed while Tara was occupying the chair by her bed. The door opened and a blonde head could be seen through the open spring out into the corridor. "You decent?" Jax asked from outside.

Liv smiled slightly. "Yeah, it's aight, you can come in" she replied as she exchanged an amused look with Tara.

Pushing the door fully open, Jax walked into the room pushing a wheelchair in front of him. A wide smile appeared on his face as he saw Tara sitting in the chair by the bed. He figured that the two of the must have made up. Before walking over to Tara, he walked towards the bed and placed a kiss on Liv's cheek. "Morning, princess" he said with a smile before turning towards Tara, leaning down and planting a kiss on her mouth.

"This really takes me back to high school" Liv joked from her seat on the bed. Jax pulled back as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Reminds me of how much I pushed your skinny ass around in a wheelchair back then too" he said with a smile, letting his friend know that he was just joking around with her and that he really didn't mind.

Liv rolled her blue eyes at his respond. "Well, back then I couldn't actually walk like I can these days. Tell me once more why the fuck I need this wheelchair?" she asked Tara, a frustrated tone in her voice. "Hospital policy" Tara replied with a smirk as Liv let out a heavy sigh. "It's bullshit either way" she commented before waving Jax closer to her so that she'd be able to get into the wheelchair.

Heaving herself of the body she sunk down into the wheelchair by her bedside. "Just let me wheel your ass outta' here" Jax laughed as he grabbed the black over-sized bag which was placed on the bed. Jax brought it from her apartment at the beginning of her hospital stay; contained everything that she found necessary. "Thanks" Liv commented as she took it from him and placed it on her lap.

Tara smiled at the sight of the two friends interacting; Jax had told her that Liv had acted out of character since the attack. Behaving differently was not unusual for victims of violent attacks as the one Liv had suffered. Frankly, it was more common than uncommon. Tara was aware of the fact that Liv was nowhere near the end of the healing process, in fact it had only just begun, however she was still relieved to notice that Liv was still interacting with someone, even though it might not be everyone in the club.

"I'll walk you out" she said with a smile as she held up the door for Jax to push Liv through the door opening. "So Liv, you need to come in every third day so that we can check up on you and run some tests. Other than that you should be all set. They've given you the medication you're supposed to take, right?" Tara questioned.

Liv nodded in response with a roll of her eyes. "Yes my good doctor" she said, referring to Tara the way Gemma used to back in the day, although without the bitter tone in her voice. "I'm supposed to take three per day unless I'm in too pain and if that's the case I could take a few more, but no more than six" she repeated the orders she'd been given by the doctor earlier.

Jax laughed at the way she recited the orders while Tara gave an approving smile. "Good, and as I said I'll swing by your place tonight. I might bring Abel with me though" she stated, giving the blonde pushing the wheelchair a questioning look. Jax nodded. "Yeah, we've got club business" he informed her.

Liv nodded. "Well, he's a sweetheart, I don't mind" she said, although both Jax and Tara could hear the troubled, agonized tone in her voice; while Jax picked up on it, he didn't understand. Tara on the other hand realized that it was the death of her unborn child that haunted Liv. She couldn't really imagine how Liv was feeling at the moment; the abortion she'd gone through had been her own choice. Losing a child the way Liv did though, she didn't even want to think about it happening to her.

As they reached the double glass doors, Tara spotted Opie leaning against his red truck outside. "Alright, this is where I leave you" she said with a small smile. "See you at home" she said, leaning over towards the blonde and placing a kiss on his lips before turning towards the woman sitting in the wheelchair. "And I'll see you tonight, Liv. Don't push yourself too hard" she stated knowing her friend quite well.

Jax chuckled at the guilty look upon his friend's face. "Yeah, whatever" Liv said with a dismissive wave.

"Dr. Knowles" a nurse called from behind the three of them. Tara gave them a small wave before walking back towards her colleague. "You need to listen to the doctors, Liv. No pushin' yourself" he said, and knew her well enough to know that she was rolling her eyes at his nagging. "Don't you roll your eyes, princess. I'm serious" he said, the tone in his voice serious for once.

"Alright, stop nagging, Jax, you sound like your ma" she stated, making Jax roll his eyes like she'd just done. "Whatever, Liv, let's go" he said nonchalantly as he grabbed the bag from her lap as he walked past her. Liv smirked slightly as she knew that her comment about him sounding like Gemma had annoyed him.

Heaving herself out of the wheelchair she followed Jax towards the truck where Opie was waiting for them. Opie gave her a small and placed his arm around her petite shoulders. "Hey, princess" he said, leaning down and placing a kiss upon her forehead. "Hey Ope" she said with a weak smile before narrowing her eyes at the truck with its front seat which exactly fitted three people. "I'm gonna have to sit in the middle, aren't I?" she asked.

Jax and Opie exchanged looks before both nodding. "Yeah" they said in unison. Liv sighed. "Fine, let the injured person sit in the middle of two enormous men" she said, attempting to gain some sympathy.

Jax laughed at her try. "You're sitting in the middle of one enormous man and one average sized one to be correct" he stated, making Opie chuckle. "And cause you're injured you're safer sitting in the middle than by the window" Jax continued.

Opie nodded in agreement as he opened the car door for Liv. "He's right, princess" he agreed. "Whatever" Liv said, realizing it was not up for question and climbed into the car.

"That's the spirit" Opie commented making Jax laugh as Liv merely gave him a look. "Get me home, assholes" she muttered as she crossed her arms, then uncrossing them as she realized that it hurt to do so…

* * *

The club-house was crowded tonight, women with too much make-up and barely there clothing walked around in heels that were too high for them to handle and did their best to capture the attention of a Son.

Happy let out a frustrated sigh as he grabbed his bottle of beer from the counter and poured it down his throat. Earlier that day he'd overheard Chibs and Juice talking; apparently she'd been released from the hospital earlier that day. He was aware that they'd been the two members of the club that had stuck it out during the three weeks she'd been in there.

After the fight he had not gone back; he refused to after the way she talked to him. No bitch talked to him like that. No one. Usually he would have killed anyone who dared to talk to him like that; hell his own President didn't talk like that with him. But he could not hurt this woman; his mother had raised him better than that. As a young boy he'd been that taught that you should not promise another person something you will not live up to. Almost five months earlier he'd promised to never lay a hand on her, to never physically hurt her, and he was keeping that promise.

"What's up, killer?" Tig said as he sat down next to his agitated brother. Happy glanced at the blue-eyed man sitting beside him; he wasn't sure how much his brother knew about everything that was going on. "Nothin' he responded curtly.

Tig nodded slowly, thoughtfully, before turning towards the crow-eater behind the bar. "Get me a beer" he told her, the bleached blonde woman in her mid-thirties nodded and placed a bottle in front of him giving him a promiscuous smile in the process. "Disappear" he told her grimly, making the smile fall off her face and gave him a nasty look before stumbling away in her heels.

The two enforcers sat in silence for a while; Happy had no idea how long, the alcohol made him loose his sense of how much time had passed. "You wanna talk about it?" Tig finally questioned his brother, a man he considered his friend, knowing that it was unlikely that theTacomakiller actually wanted to talk about his feelings. Happy might not realize it, but Tig could see how deeply he cared for Liv; if Tig would ever confront him about him, the killer would deny it, but his actions betrayed him.

Happy merely shook his head in response, finishing his beer off in a gulp. "Alright" Tig said in acceptance, he'd known it had been a long shot. Standing up from his stool, he looked around for the crow-eater he'd spotted earlier; one of his favourites. "I'm sorry, brotha' he stated, placing a hand on his fellow brother's shoulder before walking off to find himself some pussy.

Happy sat there for a minute, his harsh glare directed towards the empty glass bottle in front of him. Why couldn't he get this bitch off his mind? During the last three weeks he'd fucked all the crow-eaters around here, but none of them could make the memory of her lying underneath him, the brown hair spread across the pillow, her blue eyes closed, her lips slightly parted, the sound of her moaning in pleasure as he pushed inside of her, disappear. He hated it. That little bitch had wrapped herself around his mind and fucking refused to leave. Pushing himself off the stool, he walked across the room and grabbed the first crow-eater he could find and dragged her towards his dorm room.

* * *

Liv was lying on her couch as she heard the knock on the door. It was probably Tara; she'd said she would come around and hadn't been there yet. Letting out a pained moan as the pain once again shot through her entire body, she pushed herself off the couch. Another knock on the door. "I'm coming" she shouted. "Jesus Christ" she muttered to herself as she approached the door.

Opening the door she found Tara standing outside with Abel on her hip. The woman gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, was afraid that you might had collapsed or something"Tara explained herself. Liv nodded before stepping aside and allowing Tara to walk inside.

Abel cooed happily as he saw the familiar face of his aunt. Liv gave him a small smile. "Hey handsome" she said, holding her hand out for him to grab.

Tara smiled at the sight; Liv would be a great mother one day. "How are you feeling, Liv?" she asked.

Liv shrugged as she closed the door. "Better than three weeks ago" she responded, avoiding giving the doctor a clear answer. Because she was aware that if she told Tara she was still experiencing pain even though she'd taken her pain medication,Tarawould force her stubborn ass back to the hospital. And she really did not want that.

The woman standing beside her narrowed her eyes at her, but kept quiet. "Have you eaten anything?" she asked, letting the question go for now.

Liv shook her head. "Nah, haven't been hungry" she replied.

Tara nodded in understanding. "Well, I'll cook something cause you really need to get something into that stomach of yours" she told her. "Come on" she said and walked towards the kitchen. Liv followed behind her friend and sunk down in one of the chairs that stood around the table. "You think you'll be able to hold him?"Tara asked, referring to the baby in her arms.

Liv nodded. "Of course" she responded and held out her arms as Tara handed over Abel. Liv began making faces at the baby who laughed happily. "You're such a cutie" Liv said, rubbing her nose gently toward Abel's, making him laugh once again.

A smile spread over Tara's lips as she heard the baby laughter; there were not many things more warming than the laughter of a baby. As she began preparing the dinner she found her thoughts drifting towards how easily Liv fell into that maternal role; she was brilliant with Abel. He'd been crying the entire afternoon and nothing Tara had done had made him stop, but as they reached Liv's house he quietened town almost instantly. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it wasn't. It didn't really matter; at the moment Tara was just thankful for the peace and quiet.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Hey everyone; sorry for not updating for a while, but I really struggled with this and I've had quite a lot to handle as I'm going on vacation in a week or so, plus I've picked up extra shifts at work so I've been busy. Personally I'd rather go a bit longer than publish something I'm really not content with so that's another factor to why this chapter has been delayed a bit. Now it's done though, and I hope you enjoy reading it. As always I'd love to hear what you think about it, constructive criticism is more than welcome._**

* * *

_Liv was lying on the cold ground; tears brimmed her pale blue eyes. As a wave of punches and kicks rained over her once again, she crossed her arms above her stomach; praying that these monsters would not hurt her baby. Their dark laughter rang out through the air. "You really think you're gonna be a mother? Bitch, you don't fucking deserve a child!" a cold voice filled with hate whispered in her ear; she could feel his breath on her neck. "Shut the fuck up" she responded, an image of Gemma appearing in her mind. The older woman would have fought back; would have refused to give them the satisfaction of breaking her. Olivia would have to channel some of that strength. It didn't take more than a couple of seconds before his hand connected to her cheek. "Watch how you talk to me whore, who the fuck do you think you are, you're nothing more than a common biker whore" he shouted at her as he once again pushed himself inside of her from behind._

Liv woke up screaming, tears running down her cheeks until, her body shaking. She was frantically looking around, slowly realizing that she was in her room; in her apartment; she was safe for now. Drawing deep breaths she tried to collect herself; making the tears stop flowing down her cheeks. It took her a couple of minutes to calm down. She kept her eyes focused on the photo hanging on the wall; it was a photo of Liv, Jax, Opie, Donna and Tara on the day of their high school graduation. It had been a good day. Her father had promised to show up, but as usual he'd bailed on her. At the age of eighteen she'd been used to it, and it really didn't bother her that much. She'd prepared herself to walk across that stage to the sound of polite clapping. However as her name was called up, she could hear hollering, whistles and whoops; glancing to the crowd she noticed all of SAMCRO standing up and giving her quite an ovation. The proud look in Gemma's eyes was the biggest reward that Liv could ever be given. Yeah, that really was a good day.

A small smile spread across her lips and out of habit she stretched her arms above her head, but stopped mid-way realizing that it wasn't a good idea as the pain shot through her body. Grimacing as she placed her arms beside her body, she stared up into the white ceiling. During the last three weeks the questions had plagued her mind.

What had she done to deserve this?

Why go after her and not an Old Lady?

Who were the men who attacked her?

Could she have done anything else to save herself?

Why hadn't she accepted Chibs' offer to learn how to defend her self properly?

With a heavy sigh she slung her legs over the edge of the bed, setting her feet down on the slightly cold floor. Dragging a hand through her hair she stood up from the bed. Black spots filled her vision as she walked towards the bathroom. Two days had passed since her return from the hospital; Tara hadn't been around since the first night as she'd worked a shift at the hospital. Chibs had visited yesterday wanting to make sure she was alright. He truly was one of the best.

Since returning she hadn't been able to eat properly; she had no appetite. As she was about to strip out of her clothes the sound of the ringing phone filled the house. With a sigh she turned around and walked to the kitchen and grabbed the wireless phone. "This is Liv" she said.

"Hello, Miss. Donovan. This is Dr. Porter from S:t Thomas Hospital" the man on the other end of the line. Liv drew a deep breath; she knew what this was about. "We have the result of the tests we did while you stayed at the hospital" the doctor informed her.

Liv drew a sharp breath. "Alright, well, what were they?" she asked, not finding the right words even though it was a simple question.

"Miss Donovan, we usually have a meeting with the patient where we inform them of the results and talk about the consequences of it" the doctor replied.

Liv shook her head in response, and cursed her own stupidity after a moment; the doctor could obviously not see her response as he was on the other end of the line. "Please, just tell me" she stated determinedly as she tried to prepare herself mentally for the answers she would soon be given…

* * *

As she sat at her kitchen table, a glass of wine in one hand and a pencil in the other, tears slid slowly down her cheeks. Finishing the last of the twelve letters by signing her name at the end of it, she felt the pain in her right hand. Obviously she wasn't used to writing this much by hand. As she stuffed the letters into envelopes a feeling of self-loathing overwhelmed her. Doing it like this, through a letter rather than face to face, was the coward's way out; and she knew it. As she carefully wrote the name of each of the receivers of the letters, she thought of what they meant to her; which part they played in the family she had created for herself. The family she was about to lose.

Once again she felt the tears burn in her eyes, closing them she tried to push the tears down. She was tired of crying, tired of being a victim. Eleven years ago a man named Dr. Raymond Williams had given her one of the most heart-warming compliments she'd ever received; _Olivia, after everything you have gone through these last three years, I believe that you can handle anything life throws in your way. Because you are a fighter, a survivor. Don't ever forget that_.

He was a good man, the doctor. He had been the one responsible for her case and he'd gone out of his way to help her. If there was one person on this earth to whom she owed her life, it was Dr. Raymond Williams. Letting him down was not an option; even though the man had passed away five years ago, she believed he looked after her from heaven; her guardian angel. If she was to let this break her, the bastards that did this to her would win, and she would have let Dr. Ray down.

After receiving the results of the tests, she'd made her decision. It was time for her to leave Charming. It might be briefly or it might be permanently; she really wasn't sure. One thing she was certain of was that she needed to get the hell out of here; this town which she once considered her home had become poison. By being here it felt like she was slowly dying. For the first time in eleven years she understood the feeling that Tara had when she left; the need to get away from everything. With a sigh she stood up from her seat and walked into the living room to see the most important parts of her life packed into cardboard boxes. Her car was not exactly spacious, but it could fit the most important of her belongings. Slowly she walked over the wall where her collections of framed black and white photos of the people in her life hung. Her gaze travelled over the wall, the tears sliding down her cheeks as she took all of them in.

One of them was of her sitting on the bar counter in the clubhouse, her brown hair braided in a thick braid hanging down her back; her blue eyes sparkling with joy as she held a guitar in her arms. It had been a present for her eight birthday from Bobby; the same man who was sitting on a stool beside her in the photo, a wide smile on his face as he watched his self-proclaimed disciple with a fond look in his eyes.

Another one was from Christmas morning fifteen years ago; Liv had been fourteen at the time. She was sitting on the floor, surrounded by gifts from the members of the club as Jax and Opie sat on the floor beside her, surrounded by their own pile of gifts. Bright smiles upon their newly awakened faces; you could see Piney and Clay sitting in the enormous chairs behind the trio, content smiles on their faces as they watched the teenagers unravel their presents. It must have been Gemma who snapped this photo.

Her gaze travelled over the wall as a certain photo captured her attention. It was from the night of her senior prom; it was taken outside of the clubhouse and almost everyone whom she considered family was in the photo with her.  
Tig crouching down beside his beloved dog, Missy;  
Otto with his left arm wrapped around the petite shoulders of Luanne, a bright, excited smile on the blonde woman's face as her husband looked down on her, pure admire in his eyes;  
Bobby with a huge grin on his face, his bushy hair framing his round face perfectly;  
Piney with a grin on his face and a bottle of Tequila raised in a salute;  
the large form of Opie standing behind the petite form of Donna, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, a huge smile upon her friend's face;  
Jax with a smile on his face which would make most girls drop their panties in a heartbeat, his arm wrapped around Tara's waist as she stood beside him, a carefree smile on her beautiful face;  
Liv was standing beside them, a smile on her face and her short hair styled by Gemma for the occasion;  
Gemma with a wide smile on her face and Clay's arm around her shoulders as the King and Queen of Charming took enjoyed the happiness of the three teenagers they considered their own;  
Chibs with a timid smile and the patch on his leather vest reminding Liv that the Scottish man had been a prospect for the club at the time. This was her family; her support system; her strength. Liv learned a long time ago that loving someone did not make you weak, it made you strong. Because the love you harboured for the person would make you able to do anything to keep them safe; and to Liv that was a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness.

* * *

As she pulled her car into the driveway she took a deep breath. Even though she really did not feel like facing anyone and informing them of her decision at the moment, she knew that it was necessary for her to do so. Because otherwise the Sons would believe that something had happened to her; being kidnapped or some shit like that; and she couldn't have them send out search parties for her. So rationally she choose the one man who would accept her decision and not tie her down to force her to remain in Charming; Bobby.

Before exiting the car she grabbed the box where she'd placed the twelve letters she'd written earlier. Walking towards the front door she prepared herself mentally. A minute passed from her knocking on the door until it was opened by a tired looking Bobby. He blinked rapidly a few times as he seemed to be under the impression that he was dreaming. "Liv? Whatcha' doing here in the middle of the night?" he asked her, clearly shocked at the appearance of the younger woman.

Liv shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry to disturb you, Bobby, could I just talk with you for a moment. It won't take long" she assured him; hoping that he'd say yes.

"Of course, sweetheart, come in" he said with a nod and stepped to the side allowing her to walk past him inside.

"I need you to do me a favour" Liv stated making a frown appear on the older man's face. He was aware of the fact that if Liv came to him for a favour, it would most likely not bid well for the future of the club; she wasn't the kind of woman who asked for favours from anyone.

"Alright" he said slowly, thoughtfully as he tried to figure out what she wanted from him.

"Can you please give these to everyone" she said as she pulled out the white envelopes from her worn, over-sized bag. "And tell them that I'm sorry" she added as an over-thought.

The crease between Bobby's eyebrows deepened as he studied the young woman standing in front of him in his hall; her blue eyes tired and her pale skin seemed paler than usual. "For what?" he asked her as he took the bundle of letters which were tied together with a dark brown band.

"For leaving" she stated casually which made the bushy haired man's eyes nearly fall out. Before he could respond she held up a hand. "Please don't, I've made my choice and that's it. I'm doing this for me; I need it" she explained, hoping that he'd understand her desperate need to flee this town. "Just tell 'em that I'm sorry that I left like this; that I wasn't strong enough to face 'em all and say goodbye; that I did say goodbye, but in my own way" she told him and Bobby remained quiet waiting for her to continue. "Thank you for doing this, Bobby" she said with a small, grateful smile before she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his beard clad cheek, and then she was out of the door.

Snapping out of his trance, Bobby pulled the curtain slightly to the right making it possible for him to see the woman speed out of his driveway. With a heavy sigh he thought about what this would do to the club before letting the curtain fall down and return to his warm, but lonely bed once again…


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone! I'm back with another chapter; this time you'll get to follow different people as they are told of the departure of Liv, as well as some scenes from her point of view. As always I'd love to receive your feedback on it; I'm not exaclty an experienced writer and I appriciate all the reviews I receive, wheather it's praise or constructive criticism. I'll be going away on a vacation next week, but hopefully I'll manage to upload another chapter before then. Enough with my talking; as always I hope you enjoy reading it. Lots of love.**

* * *

It was with heavy steps that Bobby approached the shop after dismounting his bike; the letters which Liv had given him last night waiting to be delivered. With everything going on in the club at the moment; retaliation for Donna, the attack on Liv, the strained relationship between the President and the VP, the last thing they needed was to loose Liv.

His thoughts drifted back to the night before and he questioned his choice to let her leave so easily, without any kind of discussion; in the end it had been the way she presented her goodbye which had convinced him that there were no other options for the young woman other than leaving. The desperate tone in her voice as she spoke to him, tried to explain her actions, told him that staying here was slowly killing her.

The sound of a door closing made him snap out of his thoughts and lift his gaze; Gemma walked out of the office; the bruises on her face barely visible anymore.

It did not take more than a glance at Bobby for Gemma to understand that something had happened the previous night to make the conflicted, troubled look appear on the man's face. "What's wrong, Bobby?" she questioned him, a worried crease appearing between her perfectly waxed eyebrows.

Bobby drew a deep breath as he tried to figure out how to break the news to everyone; he'd been doing it since the late night visit he'd received. How do you tell a person that one of their loved ones have left for an unknown period of time?

As the moments passed by the cease on Gemma's face deepened. "Silence usually isn't a good thing when questioned what's wrong" she commented.

Nodding slowly Bobby dragged his hand over his face, rubbing his temples. "I had a visitor late last night" he stated.

"Sounds like every other night for you; whore couldn't satisfy you, Elvis?" Gemma commented dryly with a raised eyebrow.

Bobby shook his head. "Wasn't that kind of visit; it was Liv" he explained.

"What the hell did Liv want in the middle of the night" Gemma questioned with disbelief. If Liv would have been in trouble, Bobby wouldn't have been the first person she'd go to, and Gemma knew it.

Bobby sighed as he reached into his brown leather bag and pulled the letters out.

"What's that?" Gemma asked as she squinted to read the beautifully written letters on the envelope lying above the others.

Bobby riffled through the letters until he found the letter which belonged to the woman standing in front of him with a hand placed on her hip, a worried look in her brown eyes. As he found it he lifted his gaze and his eyes locked with Gemma's. "Read this; it should explain some of it at least" he told her.

Gemma took the letter and immediately recognized the handwriting which was not surprising as she'd spent hours in the kitchen, cooking at the same time as she carefully over-looked the three children sitting around the table doing their homework. "Thanks" she said before walking swiftly over to the office and slamming the door closed behind her.

Gemma shut the blinds before sinking down in the chair standing beside the door. Desperately dragging her hands through her hair she struggled to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. Liv leaving a letter could only mean one thing; she had left town.

The guilt which she'd felt constantly over the last weeks washed over her once again. Gemma loved Liv like she was her own daughter, but over the last couple of weeks she had not been able to find the courage within her to stand face to face with the woman and know that if Gemma had made different choices she might have been saved from the attack.

Gemma felt nauseous at the thought of the bastards doing what they did to her, to someone as gentle and delicate as Liv. It made her sick to her stomach. For the first time in a long time, Gemma felt ashamed; of herself, of her weakness, of her choices. She hated herself for letting one of her children, because that's what she regarded Liv as, experience a pain like the one Liv had gone through and was still going through.

Before ripping the envelope open and reading the letter she drew a deep breath and tried to find her inner strength because she knew she would need it to be able to read this letter through.

* * *

Juice sat on a stool by the bar counter, his laptop in front of him and only the sound of the clattering of his keyboard filled the clubhouse as it was still early in the morning and most of the bikers who stayed at the clubhouse had not awoken yet.

The sound of the door opening made him look up from his computer and he noticed Bobby walking inside with a troubled look upon his face. "What's up?" he asked, swirling around on the stool which made him face the bushy haired man as he sat down on a stool beside Juice.

"Got something for you, Juicy" Bobby stated before pulling out the letter written for the young Puerto Rican.

"What the fuck is this, man?" Juice asked as he took the letter and unlike Gemma he did not recognize the handwriting.

"Just read it" Bobby told him before pushing himself off the stool and stalking towards the hallway in the back which contained the dorm rooms.

Juice looked after the older man with a confused look on his face before he looked down at the letter in his hand. "What the hell" he muttered as he closed his laptop before carefully opening the letter.

As he read through the letter he went through five different stages of emotion; confusion, anger, shame, understanding and sadness.

Confused as to why Liv would leave him a letter as he did not immediately connect it to her leaving Charming.  
Anger aimed at the attackers for making her feel like she had to leave town as well as Liv for actually leaving.  
Shame, for not being able to protect her, to keep her safe like he had aimed to do from day one.  
Understanding once the anger within him had subsided, he understood her desperate need to leave all of the bad behind, including the club and Charming.  
Sadness at the loss of a beloved friend; a friend he considered to be one of his closet; one which he regarded as an older sister.

* * *

It was around ten a.m. when Jax Teller drove through the gates of Teller-Morrow Auto; he'd awoken earlier in the morning, but had opted to stay in bed with his girlfriend rather than go to work. Gemma would give him shit about it, but he really couldn't care less at the moment. He was enjoying having Tara by his side once again.

As he walked into one of the hangers he noticed that no Son was in sight. One of the mechanics was bending down over an engine and looked up when the blonde haired man entered the garage. "Mornin' Jax" he said before throwing the oiled rag in his hands towards the cabinet.

"What's up Dog, where the fuck is everyone?" he questioned as he confirmed that there was no one patched in to the club present in the garage which was unusual as it was most of the Sons' day job which provided them with a legal income.

"They're all in the clubhouse; you should probably head over there too" Dog commented, but did not let the VP of the club what was going on as he figured this issue should be dealt with by the members of the club.

"Yeah, aight, thanks man" Jax said warily as he headed towards the door leading into the clubhouse. The second he walked inside and saw the faces of his brothers he could confirm his suspicions from earlier; something was definitely wrong.

Spotting Opie sitting on the worn out couch in the corner of the room, his face resting in the palm of his hands, he walked over to his best friend. "What is it this time?" Jax asked, almost fearing the answer he would be given. The shit just seemed to keep pilling on all of their heads right now.

Opie glanced up at his best friend and it wasn't until then that Jax noticed the white paper which rested on Opie's lap as it had been hidden behind the head of his friend before. "We lost her" Opie stated, a hurt tone clear in his voice.

Jax frowned at the words coming out of his friend's mouth. Who the fuck was Opie talking about? Donna? Not likely as weeks had passed by and while the two men were like brothers, voicing their emotions to each other were not something they usually did. "What the fuck you talkin' about, Ope?" Jax questioned aggravated by the poor explanation to everyone's shitty mood which he'd received from his best friend.

Turning around he noticed that his other brothers' who were present in the room were all avoiding his gaze. "Someone wants to tell me what the fuck is goin' on!" he exclaimed angrily, almost aggressively.

A painful silence filled the clubhouse as no one wanted to deliver the bad news to the Vice-President as no one really knew how he'd handle it. While Opie was a thinker who thought through what he did before doing it most of the time, Jax acted on his current emotions which was one of his strengths as well as one of his weaknesses.

"It's Liv, Jackie-boy" the Scottish man sitting by the bar counter stated, the look in his brown eyes filled with sadness. Jax swirled around and glared at the salt-and-pepper haired man.

"What about her?" he asked, his voice low and angry.

"She's gone, brother, she left" Chibs told him opting to be brutally honest with his friend.

Jax's blue eyes grew wide with shock as the word registered in her mind. "Nah, you gotta' be wrong. Liv wouldn't leave, she ain't the one to bail" he stated, trying to make the others understand that his friend wouldn't leave; she was the most loyal person he'd ever known.

"Liv left this, you should read it" Bobby said as he tried to give his VP the envelope.

Jax shook his head furiously, holding his hands up and backing away. "No, if she's even left Charming she's coming back. This is Liv we're talkin' about" he stated, furious with the others because they could not see it his way; she would never leave them.

"It's true, Jax, she fuckin' left" the sound of Opie's voice made Jax swirl around, standing face to face with his oldest friend. He shook his head slowly, glaring daggers into his friend's eyes. "Just read the letter, brother" Opie stated before walking past him and out the door.

Another moment of silence passed before Jax stalked over to Bobby, grabbing the letter out of his hands and storming out of the clubhouse; slamming the door shut on his way out.

* * *

Liv had driven for hours without stopping; afraid that once she stopped to rest she would fall asleep and her nightmares would return as they did each night since the attack.

The flashing light in the dark of the car informed her that her phone was ringing once again; after the first five calls she'd put the phone on silent mode rather than being forced to listen to the annoying ringtone over and over again; after the fifteenth call she'd turned off her vibration as well.

Thinking that the letters she'd left them would stop them from trying to find her might have been naïve, this was SAMCRO she was talking about, however at the time she hadn't exactly been thinking clearly.

As she passed the sign which welcomed her to her mother's hometown, she leaned to her right and picked up the phone. Dialling a number which she'd memorized years ago she held the phone to her ear and waited for someone to answer on the other end.

"Hello" the familiar voice laced with power said on the other end.

"It's me" she stated before realizing that the man might not be familiar enough with her voice to recognize who it belonged to. "Olivia" she stated to clear up any confusion on the other end.

"No need to tell me; I recognize your voice" the man informed her. "Where are you?" he questioned.

"Just drove past the welcome sign, I'll be there in twenty minutes or so" she told him. "I'll tell them to show you to my office; we need to talk" he told her gravely before hanging up on her.

With a heavy sigh she tossed her phone to the side. To say that she did not look forward to having a talk with her grandfather was an understatement. "Fuck my life" she muttered darkly as she stepped on it; she wanted to get this over with.

* * *

The wind whirled around him as he pushed his bike close to its maximum limit. There was nothing like riding down an open road when he needed to clear his mind; and fuck he needed to clear it. The image of a bruised up woman lying in a hospital bed would not stopping haunting him; it didn't matter if he was awake or not; her presence in his mind was constant.

As he caught sight of the 'Welcome to Charming' sign he slowed his bike down; not wanting to get hassled by the police; Unser might be on their side, but that fucker Hale wanted nothing more than to bust all of their asses and Happy refused to give him the satisfaction of doing so simply because of some unnecessary speeding on his part.

As he drove through the gates of Teller-Morrow Auto he noticed that the garage seemed to be closed down for the day. Some might assume that being ruthless and able to shut of one's feelings were the most important characteristics for an enforcer of a club like the Sons of Anarchy; truth was though that the most important of them all was the ability to trust one's instincts. The sinking feeling in his gut did not bid well.

Backing into an empty space beside the other bikes, he shut off the engine and gracefully swung one of long, denim-clad legs over the bike. Happy walked swiftly towards the clubhouse and easily pulled the door open as he reached it.

Walking inside he saw most of his brothers sitting by the bar; all of them with sullen expressions upon their faces and some kind of alcoholic beverage in front of them. He kept his face emotionless as he approached them; Tig was the first one to notice him. The look in the blue eyes of his brother confirmed Happy's gut feeling; something shitty had gone down; something he needed to know about.

"Killer" Tig stated his voice emotionless. Pushing himself off the stool by the bar, Tig stalked towards the dorm rooms in the back. Happy followed his fellow enforcer without a word; the two of them didn't need words to communicate nine times out of ten.

"What the fuck is this all about?" Happy questioned roughly as Tig came to a stop at the end of the hall.

"Liv left, man" he stated, opting to be blunt like Chibs had done earlier with Jax, because the truth was that none of them knew how to handle this shit and being blunt seemed like their best option at that precise moment.

As the words hit Happy the thoughts began swirling around in his head. "Left?" he questioned, his raspy, lethal voice low, laced with anger.

"Yeah, left last night; wrote a letter to all of us each and shit" he informed the bald headed man standing stoically in front of him.

Tig watched as his friend's onyx eyes swarmed with emotions; Happy might have learned how to control the emotions on his face, however his eyes still held the truth of his emotions whenever someone he cared for was hurt or in danger.

Without speaking a word, Happy stormed off towards his dorm room and slammed the door closed behind him. It didn't take more than a second before Tig could hear something slam against the wall in the room.

Knowing that his friend needed to work through his anger on his own, Tig walked towards the main room once again.

* * *

As she drove up the driveway to the magnificent house which was heavily guarded by enormous walls and armed soldiers, Liv's blue eyes widened. Even though this was the home of her grandfather, or really because of it being the home of her grandfather, she had merely been her once during her almost thirty years of living. To say that her grandfather and her mother had disagreed upon a few things was an understatement; Frank Donovan being one of them.

The only time she had visited was when she was just two weeks old and her aunt was on her death bed. Sean had demanded that his daughter returned to her childhood home to support her sister during the last moments of her too short life. Once upon a time the two sisters had been extremely close, sharing a unique bond which reminded everyone of the bond between twins.

The death of Charlotte had affected Connie more than she could ever imagine, and looking back Liv realized that might be one of the reasons that Connie a couple of weeks later abandoned her husband her newborn daughter.

Obviously Liv could not remember the visit and during her childhood she could count the visits by her grandfather on two hands.

As she reached the house a pale man with slightly messy black hair and emerald green eyes dressed in a black suit walked forward, and as Liv pulled the car to a stop he opened the door for her. "Mr. Fitzpatrick is awaiting you, I will park your car in the garage for now" the man told her.

Liv just nodded and left the keys in the ignition. She knew that her mother's side of the family was wealthy, but this was beyond what she had imagined. Beside the enormous wooden door stood two men, heavy machinery placed in their hands. Her grandfather clearly believed in protecting himself.

Pushing the door open Liv walked inside, and was met by a gigantic, beautiful marble staircase with a golden rail. "You must be Olivia, no?" a young woman, probably around her mid-twenties with pin-straight, dark brown hair, high and delicate cheek bones and strikingly blue eyes questioned.

Liv merely nodded, lost in the beauty of the woman standing in front of her. "Yes" she finally managed to say.

"Come on" the woman said, and walked towards the staircase; the sound of her high heels against the marble floor announcing to everyone that she was on the move.

As she followed behind the woman, Liv studied her surroundings. The walls were clad with beautiful paintings; most of them looked extremely expensive. The woman guided her through many different corridors; this house reminded Liv of a labyrinth.

"Here we are" the woman stated as she came to a halt outside one of the many dark wooden doors in a hall. "He's waiting for you" the woman told Liv who simply nodded.

The woman turned on her heel and begun walking down the hall, leaving Liv alone to face her grandfather. "Oh by the way, I'm Fiona" the woman told her before disappearing around a corner.

Liv recognized the name, although she could not remember if they were biological relatives or not.

Drawing a deep breath she opened the door to the room; it's now or never she thought to herself as she stepped through it and was met by the hard gaze of a man who had seen much horror in his life, but still he was the most stable and powerful man most people could know. His name was Sean Frederick Charles Fitzpatrick.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone, I'll be going away on a well-needed vacation for about twelve days so I won't be able to update during that time. Therefore I thought I'd treat you with another chapter. I've been working my ass off to get it completed and it's more than twice the usual lenght so I hope you all are satisfied with that for now. Enjoy reading it :)

* * *

As she walked through the door she immediately felt a pair of piercing blue eyes focused on her. Lifting her gaze her eyes locked with the man sitting in the black, leather chair behind the enormous wooden desk. A shiver travelled down her spine as he beckoned her forward with a simple look. Taking a few, swift steps forward she stood in front of the desk.

Sean's eyes remained on his granddaughter as she stood in front of him. Even though she looked like hell at the moment, Sean could see traces of his genes in her; especially those blue eyes which she had inherited from her mother who in turn had inherited the colour from him. "Sit" he ordered her, the tone in his voice short, however not unpleasant.

As she sunk into Liv remained silent as she waited for the man to speak. It was overwhelming to see him; during her thirty years of living she'd met him a couple of times at the most, and all of them were when she was quite young. The last time she saw him she'd been ten, and it had ended with her grandfather holding a gun to her drunk father's temple as Liv begged him to not take the life of her father. Even though he was a miserable excuse for a father, Frank Donovan was the only parent she had left, Gemma excluded, and in the end Sean had listened to his ten year old granddaughter and had stormed out of the house, slamming the door closed behind him.

"Why have you come here, Olivia" he asked her, the tone in his voice telling her that it was not a question, it was a demand.

Drawing a deep breath she dragged a hand through her messy, knotty hair. "Some events went down in Charming; made me feel unsafe there" she told him.

Sean's face remained void of any emotion. "It does not explain why you are here, Olivia. What do you want from us after all these years?" he questioned.

Liv sighed, and realized that she didn't really know the answer herself. "All I want is for things to go back to the way they were; I want to feel safe again" she explained to him.

Sean nodded thoughtfully. "Tell me everything" he told her sharply. A tremble of fear shot through Liv's body as she thought back on that night, but she quickly pushed it back; this was not the time to break down.

* * *

Juice rubbed his temples with his fingers as his brothers continued to discuss what to do about the situation with Liv. "How do we know that it's for real though? What if someone took her?" Jax suggested, desperate to find an explanation to the sudden departure of one of his oldest friends.

Across the table Opie shook his head slowly. "Li's a smart chick; she'd find a way to tell us something was off" he reasoned.

Chibs nodded in agreement. "Aye, if she'd been snatched up by someone those letters wouldn't be that sincere" he stated.

Murmurs of agreement spread through out the room and Jax dragged a hand through his blonde hair. "Goddamn" he exclaimed, frustrated with the lack of options to find her. "There's no way you can track her ass down?" he questioned Juice.

"If she uses her credit card or her real name, then yeah. But like Ope said, Liv's a smart chick. Leaving the way she did, she probably doesn't want to be found and she'll know how to stay clear of my searches" he told the VP who lightened yet another cigarette. The blonde had already smoked almost a pack during church; and there was still time to go.

"So what you're saying we have no way of finding her" Clay stated with a frown.

Juice shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much" he concluded.

"Jesus Christ" Bobby swore before taking a drag of his bottle of beer.

* * *

When Liv was finished telling the story of the attack which she was subjected to and the time after wards, the face of Sean Fitzpatrick was still emotionless; his blue eyes blazed with anger at the thought of someone hurting a family member of his.

The two of them sat in silence as Liv allowed him to progress the information she'd given him. "Do you know who did this?" Sean questioned her, his piercing blue eyes staring directly at his granddaughter, carefully studying her face to detect any signs of lying on her part.

"No. Yes. Kind of" Liv rambled making her grandfather raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Which one?" he asked her.

"Do you know who the Sons of Anarchy are?" Liv asked him.

Sean's eyebrows shot up. "Of course. Are you involved with those people?" he asked her.

Liv nodded in response. "Yes, the Vice-President of the mother charter is a close friend of mine. I've grown up with him as well as some other members of the club" she explained to him.

Sean nodded slowly. "I assume that they were not the ones who attacked you then; an enemy of the club?" he questioned.

Liv nodded slightly impressed by his swift conclusion. "You assume right" she confirmed.

Sean once again nodded and the two of them sat in silence for a few moments before he decided to speak. "You want to feel safe once again, no?" he questioned. Liv nodded in reply. "Stay here with us for a while, I will personally make sure that you are taught how to defend yourself in any possible way and we will give you the knowledge you will need to extract your vengeance if you choose to do so" Sean told her.

Liv immediately opened her mouth to thank him, but was stopped as he held up a hand for her to wait. "You are part of our family, Olivia, even if it at the moment is just a biological part, I hope that you will grow to accept us as your true family one day" Sean confessed to her.

Liv was torn in how to respond to the statement given by her grandfather; of course she would love to know her biological family, but to Liv her true family would always be the one she left behind in Charming; those were the people who had raised her and cared for her when no one else was there; her mother's family included. "Thank you" she finally said with a small smile.

"You remind me very much of your mother, Olivia" her grandfather stated with a small smile.

"How so?" Liv questioned with a frown. "And please call me Liv" she added.

"Liv it is then. You look very much alike in appearance; especially in your colours. Your mother was a strong woman, no doubt about it. She inherited the strength from her mother, your grandmother. Out of our three daughters, Joanne and I always believed her to be the one most cut out for this life" he confided in his granddaughter. "It's not easy life we live, as I'm sure you are aware of our, what can I say, trouble with following the law. We have gathered a few enemies through the years; and a woman in this life has to be tough as nails or she won't make it in the long run. And believe me when I say your mother was a tough lass. Strong will too. But Charlotte growing ill hurt her badly, even though she would not admit it. Did you know that it was the day after your aunt's sickness was diagnosed that she met Frank Donovan. As you might recall I am not a friend of your father. Less than a year later you were born. She'd cut all ties with the family, her own way of protecting herself from the hurt and pain we were all experiencing due to Charlotte's illness."

Liv listened with some kind of excitement as she learned more about her mother in a few minutes than she had done in years prior. "If I could ask; what makes us alike?" Liv asked her grandfather with furrowed brows as she tried to understand his reasoning behind the statement.

Sean chuckled lowly. "You are strong, Liv. If you were not strong you would not be sitting in this chair in front of me asking for help" he explained to her. Liv nodded thoughtfully as she pondered over the words of her grandfather.

Sean grabbed the cup of coffee from the desk and stood from his seat. "Come on, darling, your grandma will slay me for keeping you from her this long" he stated and Liv rose from her seat. Following her grandfather out of the door, she prepared herself for meeting the matriarch of the Fitzpatrick family.

* * *

Meeting her grandmother had been a terrifying experience; Liv hadn't known what to expect from the woman who had raised her mother and married a man like Sean Fitzpatrick.

Joanne had actually reminded her of her surrogate mother, Gemma, in her appearance as well as in her personality. Long black hair which flowed down her back; dark brown eyes on the verge of being black framed by dark make-up. A beautiful face with full lips and high cheekbones was completed by a slender body with curves in all the right places that most women, even those around the age of twenty, would kill for. Dressed in a black top with lace covering the area above her breasts and down her arms, a pair of black jeans which clung to her legs and a black high heeled boots which reached her ankles, she looked a lot younger than she actually was.

At first she had been a bit chilly, but it seemed that as soon as Sean had given her a nod she had warmed up and welcomed Liv to the family.

At the moment Liv was wandering in the beautiful garden which spread out behind the mansion. Deciding that she would like to feel the grass against her bare feet she bent down to take off her strappy sandals.

"Well, hello there" the sound of a male voice made Liv's head swirl around and she noticed two men standing there with amused looks upon their faces. She could feel them looking at her ass which probably looked bigger than usual due to the position she was in. Swiftly pulling off her shoes she straightened up and gave the men a small smile.

"Who are you?" the sound of a young child made Liv look to the side and she noticed an adorable boy standing a couple of metres away, a questioning look on his face.

"My name is Liv" she told him.

"Shit, you're Liv?" one of the men exclaimed.

Liv turned her gaze towards him. Blonde hair, broad shoulders and sparkling blue eyes; he was definitely a look for sore eyes. "Yeah" Liv confirmed making the other guy burst into laughing which in turn made Liv turn her attention towards him.

Brown hair which reached just above his shoulders, much like Jax's did, warm brown eyes filled with laughter and a stubble just like his friend; this man was slightly shorter and did not have as broad shoulders, but there was no doubt that he was fit as the muscles strained against the white t-shirt he was wearing.

A look of confusion spread over the faces of Liv and the child while the blonde one looked slightly embarrassed and man beside him was howling with laughter. "What's so funny, Uncle Sam?" the little boy asked with a frown upon his young face as he didn't understand the why his uncle was laughing, and he didn't like being left out.

Liv looked as the man who apparently was named Sam tried to collect himself before answering. "Well, Damien, your dad thought Olivia here was… beautiful" the man tried to explain to the boy.

The boy, Damien, turned towards Liv, tilted his head slightly to the left. "She is beautiful, Uncle Sam. She looks like mama" Damien stated.

Liv gave the boy a smile for the compliment before turning to the men with an expectant look. "Yeah, but your dad is Olivia's Uncle, just like I'm your Uncle" Sam told the child and indirect informed Liv that this must be the youngest brother of her mother.

"Oh" Damien said, still not understanding why it was wrong for his dad to believe that the woman beside him was beautiful.

Liv on the other hand had understood the meaning of beautiful in this situation and chuckled slightly. "Thank you I think" she said, giving the blonde man a small smile as she extended her hand to introduce herself properly like Gemma had taught her.

The man gave her a wide smile as he shook her hand. "Sorry 'bout that, I'm Brian" he introduced himself.

"It's alright. Olivia Donovan, but please call me Liv" she told him.

Brian nodded before stepping back allowing the brown haired one to step forward. "Samuel O'Connor" he introduced himself and gave her a smile which probably made most women drop their panties.

Liv had gathered from the boy's frown earlier during the conversation that he did not fancy being left out of things so therefore she kneeled in front of him and extended her hand with a warm smile. "I'm Liv" she told him.

The boy gave her a bright smile as he took her hand. "I'm Damien" he told her. "I'm three years old" he informed her. "How old are you?" he asked bluntly making the two men standing above the two burst into laughter.

Liv chuckled. "I'm twenty-nine, but I'll be thirty soon" she answered his question.

His stormy blue eyes grew wide. "Wow, that's old!" he explained making the three adults burst into laughter once again.

"Thanks little man" Liv said with a smile as her age didn't bother her like it did some people.

"If she's old then what am I? Ancient?" Brian questioned with an amused smile.

Damien shook his head. "Nah daddy, you're a dinosaur" he informed his father.

* * *

The hysterical screaming of Abel was driving Tara to the brink of insanity. As she rocked the baby in her arms she tried to think of ways to calm the blonde baby in her arms down.

Suddenly remembering something that Liv had said earlier in the week, Tara began singing softly. Her singing voice was neither angelic nor dreadful, but it seemed to soothe Abel instantly. Once again Tara found herself thanking the other woman for her advice even though she wasn't even around at the moment.

A couple of minutes passed and Abel was asleep. Walking slowly into his room she put him down in the crib and desperately hoped that he didn't wake up any time soon because she needed some breathing room.

A sigh of relief escaped from her throat as she sunk into the chair in a corner of Abel's room. For a moment she just sat there and enjoyed the silence before bending down and ruffling through her bag. Bobby had been by the hospital leaving a letter which he asked her to read; Tara had been in the middle of quite a hard case and had been to wound up to ask him what it was about.

As she pulled out the letter she immediately recognize the handwriting, it belonged to Liv. As teenagers Tara had always envied Liv for her handwriting, while Tara's handwriting was scratchy and barely readable, Liv's was elegant and beautiful. Opening the envelope with a frown upon her face she pulled out the letter.

_Dear Tara,_

_As you're reading this letter, I've already left town; much like you did eleven years ago. You handled it better than I did though; at least you were brave enough to say your goodbyes face to face with the people you cared about._

Tara could feel the tears burning in her eyes, the gulp appearing in her suddenly very dry throat. She forced herself to continue her reading. As she read a certain part of the letters she felt the tears brimming her eyes.

_After everything that happened over the last couple of weeks I've gained a better understanding of why you left Charming all those years ago. This town was your poison much it is my poison at the moment. You out of everyone probably understand my reason for leaving, and I truly hope you can forgive me one day for not being as brave as you were._

As she read the finale part of the letter she stopped trying to hold the tears back and let them flow down her cheeks.

_Gemma has always had this saying; you love the man, you learn to love the club. To some extent it's true, but you do not have to love the club; you merely have to accept it. This club is in Jax's blood whether he wants it to be or not; the thoughts of walking away from the club, leaving it all behind, might occur to Jax, but frankly I doubt that it will ever happen. I know that your feelings towards the club are not always exactly positive, and I can understand that. But please don't make him choose between the club and you, because you are two out of the three most important things in his life and I don't think he can bear losing any of those three. _

Tara was still sitting in the chair in Abel's room; the tears had stopped slipping down her cheeks, but her red, puffy eyes held the evidence of the crying.

For a long time, since they were teenagers, Liv had been her friend in the club when no one else seemed to like her very much. When everyone else had blamed her leaving and breaking Jax in the process, Liv had

The sound of the door opening made her snap out of her thoughts. Stumbling footsteps came down the hall heading towards Abel's room. In a matter of seconds Jax appeared in the doorway. His appearance sent Tara into some kind of shock; he was a mess. Eyes red and puffy just like her own, he was dirty like he'd been lying on the ground in a pile of dirt and she could feel the scent of alcohol from her place in the chair.

He leaned towards the frame of the door, putting all of his weight against it like he couldn't stand on his own. "She's gone, Tara" he stated, voice filled with a mix of sadness and anger.

Tara nodded as she slowly rose from her seat. "I know" she responded solemnly. She walked forward slowly coming to a stop in front of him. The alcohol sent was even heavier now, and it almost made her hurl, but for once she kept her shit together. "I'm sorry, Jax" she said softly as she stroked her hand over his dirty cheeks.

"I need you" he whispered, blue eyes desperately seeking the comfort he longed for.

Tara nodded and slowly let her hand travel down his neck to his collarbone, down his chest and stomach, and took his hand in hers. "C'mon" she said as she headed towards the bathroom down the hall.

* * *

Liv stood in a dark corner of the enormous and luxurious furnished lounge where part of the Fitzpatrick family and friends of the family were currently mingling. Loud chatter filled the room as well as a good portion of laughter. They all seemed to be in good spirits.

To be honest Liv had not been planning on coming, but the demand from her grandmother had left no room for argument. So when Sam had knocked on the door to the room her grandmother had offered her, she had let him lead her to the formal lounge without any complaints.

The crowded room allowed her to disappear slightly though and she enjoyed studying the people who belonged to her mother's side of the family. Her eyes wandered over the room and she spotted her grandfather standing with some other men, dressed in what looked to be an expensive suit with a cigar in his right hand and a glass of fine whiskey in the other.

Liv recognized a few of the men around him; one of them was Alan Kennedy. Apparently he was the son of her grandfather's right man as well as the widower of the late Charlotte Fitzpatrick-Kennedy. The bald man looked to be in his mid-fifties, harsh grey eyes which softened slightly when he looked at his son, William Kennedy, who apparently had inherited a lot of Charlotte's genes appearance wise.

Arthur O'Connor stood beside Alan, a wide smile on his face making it appear that he was completely relaxed, but the way he stood and the way he glanced around the room every other second told Liv that he was probably involved with the security surrounding the family. She recognized his behaviour from a certain enforcer of the Sons; if she had not known him, she might not have picked up on the subtle signals that Arthur sent out every now and then. Arthur was probably in his fifties, he was tall and quite well-built with brown hair and dark eyes. Apparently he was the father of the woman she'd met earlier, Fiona, and was her Uncle through his marriage with her mother's sister Amelia.

Liam Fitzpatrick was in the group of men as well, with his blonde hair and mischievous blue eyes he reminded her a lot of Kozik, a member of the Tacoma charter.

Liv's eyes once again travelled over the room until she found the daughter of Liam; Alana Fitzpatrick. Apparently she was the result of a one-night-stand where the mother refused to take care of a baby. Even though he'd never planned to have kids, Liam embraced his daughter with love and a big part of his life revolved around his little sunshine from that day and on.

Alana Fitzpatrick looked slightly older than her fifteen years, and Olivia had no doubt that the boys pursued her with determination; she was extremely pretty. Her dark brown, on the edge of black, ended right above her shoulders. Blue eyes which sparkled with mischievousness and youth; freckles spread delicately across her cheeks and the tip of her nose. A slender figure with long legs which never seemed to end, which she showed off in a ocean blue dress which ended mid-thigh. Yes, Alana Fitzpatrick was pretty and would soon grow into being a gorgeous, young woman. Her father and uncles would have a hard time keeping the boys away from her, that was for sure.

The wife of her uncle who'd she met earlier, Alice Fitzpatrick, stood with Alana a soft smile on her full lips. Olivia recognized herself in Alice; not because of their slightly similar looks with dark hair and pale blue eyes; but because somehow Alice did not fit in here. She seemed too naïve, too soft to belong to a family like this. It reminded her of herself in the clubhouse in Charming; she hadn't belonged there, she'd been too pure.

Olivia studied Alice from a far as the woman scooped the three year old boy, Damien, in her arms and placed kiss all over his round cheeks. She found herself becoming jealous of her cousin's wife; the two women seemed to be quite alike in some ways, but Alice already had something that Olivia would never have the privilege to have; a child.

Her gaze wandered over to the tall, blonde man with the piercing blue eyes and charming smile; Brian Fitzpatrick. He was leaning against the bar, one foot crossed above the other one as he kept an eye on his wife and son who were across the room. Apparently he'd been quite a ladies man in the past; Olivia could definitely see why the ladies would have loved him; the charming smile, the broad shoulders and defined arm muscles, a bit of stubble and blonde, soft curls. He reminded her slightly of Jax; at the thought of her best friend guilt overflowed her.

"Are you enjoying studying everyone?" the voice made her jump slightly as she'd not noticed anyone coming up to her.

Turning around she saw Sam standing there with an amused smile on his face, an entertained twinkle in his brown eyes. Once she'd regained her composure Liv gave him a small smile. "Yes, actually I am" she responded.

Sam nodded and the two stood in silence for a while, but not the awkward kind, no it was more of a comfortable silence like the one that could occur between two people who had been friends for a long time. "So tell me, how does it feel to be surrounded with all this family?" he asked her, studying her closely out of the corner of his eye.

"Scary" she answered with blunt honesty making a low chuckle erupt from his throat.

"Understandable" he stated with a smile.

"Hey, Sam!" a man in his mid-twenties called out, Liv recognized him from the portraits she'd been shown earlier. He was the middle Kennedy sibling; Aidan Charles O'Connor.

"I'll be right there" Sam called back before turning to look at Liv, a serious look in his dark eyes. "Look I don't know what happened to you back in Charming to make you come here, but whatever it is we'll help you handle it if necessary. You're family" he told her before turning around and walking towards the younger man. Liv stood there in slight shock and followed him with her gaze until he'd left the room.

* * *

He parked the bike on the driveway to her house. Even the house looked abandoned, the drapes were drawn closed and the door was clearly locked.

Fortunely he'd had the good sense to make a copy of her keys a couple of months earlier. Back then he'd justified it with him needing to be able to get there quick if anything ever happened to her; although he knew very well that if she was in any kind of danger he'd gladly replace the door after kicking it in to get to her. Happy had not seen the point in informing her of his copying as he knew that she would be less than thrilled with it.

He swiftly unlocked the door and walked inside, quickly pushing the right combination of numbers into the alarm pad which made it safe for him to venture inside the house without anyone knowing.

With a sigh he walked through the house; through the medium sized living room which connected to the spacious kitchen with a kitchen island in the middle of it. Down the hall where the guest bedroom was located to his right and opposite to it was the room which Liv used as an office. At the end of the hallway was her bedroom, and next to it was the library. It wasn't an enormous house, but it was enough for her, and frankly he liked it more than the huge house that Gemma and Clay shared.

Happy walked into the bathroom and kicked off his boots before sitting down on the bed. Leaning back against the headboard he lightened a cigarette; Liv hated it when he smoked inside, but she never said anything, he could read through the look of distaste on her face. As he sat there in complete silence his mind begun drifting back towards his memories of a certain woman.

_Happy had been on a run down to Charming together with the Tacoma charter. He'd been a prospect at the time, and had yet to establish his place in the club. The year was nineteen-ninety-two and the war between the Sons and the Mayans was raging. He'd been sitting on a park bench with Tig by his side when she'd walked across the lot. _

_Happy's eyes followed the good looking girl, she was a bit scrawny, but nonetheless pretty as hell. She had been wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a black tank top; her long brown hair flowing loosely down her back and her blue eyes framed with black eyeliner. "Damn" Happy had muttered under his breath. T_

_ig chuckled. "Yeah I know jail-bait is a pretty one" he stated with a sneer on his face as he studied the girl._

_"Jail-bait?" Happy questioned. _

_"Yeah man, she's just fifteen" Tig explained to the prospect. _

_Happy's eyebrows shot up. "Doesn't look fifteen" he commented dryly as he followed her with his gaze; enjoying the way her narrow hips swung from right to left as she walked in her black ankle boots. _

_"No shit, can't wait for her to be legal" Tig commented with a smirk as he imagined the things he could do to that girl. _

_Happy glanced at the man beside him, and even though his thoughts did not travel in the quite the same disturbed direction as Tig's, they definitely went to a similar place. Boys her age must be going wild for her._

Less than a month later she'd lost that beautiful hair to the treatments. If someone ever doubted the strength of that girl, she'd showed them all. Liv had fought like a lioness and in the end she'd made it through alive. A strange feeling rose in his chest, almost pride, at the way she'd faced the obstacles of her life.

Her father was no-good white trash and not one day during those three years had he gone to the hospital with her. It had always been Gemma or someone else connected to the club who took her. It disgusted him how a father could care so little for his child. Even though his own father had been a walk-out, at least he had his mom. Liv's mom had walked out on her, left her in the care of a useless drunk. It disgusted him.

_Happy had been on a run to Charming, had a job down in California and Lee told him to stay down there for a few days. At the moment it was only him and a couple of hang arounds at the clubhouse as SAMCRO was on a business meeting which Happy had opted to stay out of. _

_"Hey, Hap" he turned around and came face to face with Gemma. __"Could you run over to Liv's house and make sure she's okay. Hasn't answered my texts for a couple of hours" she asked of him. _

_Happy grunted, he wasn't exactly thrilled to be running errands, but this was the Queen; you didn't tell her no, especially not when it concerned Olivia Donovan. "A'ight" he said and pushed himself off the stool._

_"Thanks, Hap" the Queen told him before strutting off once again._

Even though he might have been reluctant to go there from the beginning, he'd be forever thankful that he did.

_Walking up to the door he tried to spot her through the window in the front of the house. As he couldn't spot her he banged on the door. No response. _

_There were some muffled sounds from inside the house; he couldn't hear exactly what they were though. "Liv open this fuckin' door right fuckin' now!" he shouted. No response. "I'll fuckin' kick it in! I swear!" he shouted angrily. Still no response. _

_Something was wrong; he could feel it in every bone of his body. Taking a step back he stormed towards the door, his shoulder first and prowled through it. _

_Holding his gun up he searched through the house efficiently. Finally he reached her bedroom at the end of the hall. The door was slightly opened; he kicked it opened fully with his booted feet. _

_What he saw made the anger rage within him. Liv was lying on the bed, arms wrapped around herself and shivering. The bruises which clad her skin made every nerve in his body react, and not in a good way. Someone had gagged her making her unable to make any sound. Lowering his gun slightly and approaching her he noticed the frantic look in her eyes. _

_He heard a movement from his right side and swirled around and fired a shot in the process. The shot hit the man in the middle of the forehead. As he approached the man lying on the ground he realized that it was the douche-bag who Liv had been dating for the last couple of months. "Fuckin' hell" he swore before putting the gun away and rushing over to Liv's body. _

_He begun with releasing her from the gag, then softly wiped away the tears slipping down her cheeks as she cried silently. "You're safe" he whispered in her ear as she clung desperately to him. _

_"He wouldn't stop" she whispered, her voice raspy. "I was breaking up with him and he got so mad, so incredibly angry" she murmured, almost too silently for him to hear it. _

_Once again the anger rose within Happy, but this time he pushed it back down. "You're safe, Liv. I ain't never gonna' lay a hand on you" he promised her as she climbed into his lap and put his strong arms around her and held her until her crying stopped and she fell into peaceful slumber._

He'd sworn he'd never physically hurt her and he'd meant it. Never again did he want to see her so banged up again. Seeing her lying in the hospital bed after the attack damn near broke him.

Over the last half-year some intense feelings had appeared between the two. Happy knew for a fact that the reason that Liv was breaking up with the douche that night was because of him. Earlier that day he'd kissed her, she'd responded fiercely and it had been going well until she pulled away, telling him that she needed to take care of some things before it could go that far.

The thought of her being hurt because of him pained him more than he could describe with words. He hated himself for having these feelings for her; he'd always sworn that he'd never have an Old Lady, but that was what the relationship had been headed to.

Happy had been living in denial for the last two months about his feelings about her; trying to look at her as a casual fuck-buddy, but when he saw her in the hospital he realized that she was so much more than that. Even though he might never admit it to her, he loved her. He loved her like hell.

And now she was gone without leaving any trace behind except a fucking letter. It killed him not knowing where she, if she was safe. He wanted to find her, hold her against him and never let her go again. He needed to find her. He needed her. He was tired, both in body and mind, and as he slid down the bed and closed his eyes sleep easily over-took him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry for not updating for so long. I've been busy as hell, and has been forced to focus on other things than writing. Now I'm back on track though so hopefully the updates will be more regular. The chapter is kind of short, but I'm already half-way done with the next so it wouldn't be too long. Enjoy reading!**

* * *

Loud banging woke Liv up the next morning. Sitting up in the king sized bed and looking around with a confused look upon her face, it took her newly awoken brain a few moments to connect the loud sound to the door.

With a tired sigh she rolled out of bed and cussed whoever woke her up this early; she had never been a morning person. A glance at the clock hanging on the wall above the desk confirmed her suspicions; it was too damn early for someone to be knocking on her door.

Opening the door she saw Brian and Sam standing there; a wide smile on her uncle's face while an expressionless look clad the other man's face. Liv squinted at the two men. "Are you drunk?" she questioned them in disbelief.

Brian looked slightly baffled by her accusation. "What?" Of course not; why would we be drunk? Do we look drunk?" Brian asked while Sam rolled his dark eyes at his friend's rambling.

"Get dressed" Sam ordered her flatly.

Liv really didn't fancy being ordered around; especially not at half past four in the morning. Placing a hand on her hip she glared at the slightly older man. "It's four-thirty in the damn morning, and I'm sure as hell not getting dressed. I'm going back to bed" she told them and began closing the door when a white sneaker clad foot shot out stopping her from closing the door fully.

"You're not though" Brian stated as he pushed the door open and waltzed inside. "You're coming with us" he stated as he looked around the room.

Liv's eyebrows shot up. "The hell I am" she said before yawning.

Brian fell back on the couch, prompting his feet up on the table, crossing one of his sneakers clad feet over the other one. "You told my old man you wanted to feel safe again, didn't you?" Brian questioned her.

"Yeah, what does that have to do with you two waking me up at the crack of dawn?" she responded with a raised eyebrow.

"It has everything to do with that" Brian replied.

"Listen, Liv, your grandpa came up with a plan to make you feel safe again. And the first step of that plan is getting' you fit enough to be able to defend yourself" Sam explained to her as he noticed the sour look on the young woman's face.

"So Sean wants me to work out with the two of you?" she asked, realizing that she probably sounded a bit like a bimbo since Sam had just explained it to her, but frankly her brain wasn't working properly this early in the morning.

Brian rolled his pale blue eyes at her how slow his niece was at the moment. "Yeah, finally you've got it" he commented.

"Well, I might have gotten it a bit faster if you would have explained it rather than talking in riddles" she pointed out to him as she glared at him. Once again Brian rolled his eyes while a low chuckle escaped from Sam.

With a pained look upon her face Liv sighed as she realized that she was not getting rid of these fools. "Alright, get outta' here" she told them as she opened the door once again.

Brian gave her an incredulous look. "What the hell?" he asked her.

"Apparently Liv ain't the only slow one" Sam stated making Liv glare at him. "She's gettin' dressed you idiot" Sam told his friend.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Brian asked as he pushed himself off the couch and sauntered towards the door.

"It's ain't her fault you're a bit slow" Sam commented as the two left the room.

With a heavy sigh Liv closed the door behind the two of them and turned towards the corner of the room where someone had placed all of the boxes with her belongings, which she had brought with her. Finding some decent workout clothes would not be an easy task in that complete mess of boxes.

* * *

As he drove down the quiet streets of Charming, Jax Teller's thoughts drifted towards the woman who'd been missing for almost a week. Not an hour had passed by without him thinking about her.

For as long as he could remember she'd been a part of his life; she'd become the sister he never had. Liv had been there for all the shit that had happened in his life; his father being absent as he spent more and more time in Ireland, his little brother's sickness which led to his death, his father dying, his mother remarrying Clay, Tara leaving Charming as well as him behind, Opie being sentenced to prison, Abel almost dying.

Yes, she had been there for it all. And now as she was hurting, he'd failed to be there for her in return. It plagued him that she had felt she needed to leave all of them.

At first he'd been angry, he'd been furious with her, but slowly the anger faded away and was replaced with sadness and guilt.

As he turned around the corner and joined in his brothers in the formation, memories began replaying in his mind.

_A twelve-year-old blonde boy was sitting on the porch of his family's house. Through the door he could hear his mother cooking dinner. No matter what happened Gemma Teller would not allow herself to stop taking care of her family. Even if she'd just lost her youngest son. _

_The sounds of steps coming towards him made the boy lift his gaze. In front of him stood two children the same age as himself; Opie, the tall boy with red-brown hair and kind eyes, stood beside a girl with dark hair and blue eyes, which shone with an intense sadness, Liv. _

_"Hey" Jax said quietly before returning his gaze to the ground. _

_Opie and Liv exchanged glances before slowly approaching him and sitting down on one side each. _

_"I'm sorry" Opie stated quietly, Jax glanced up at him and nodded in acknowledgement, as he did not know what to say. _

_As Jax once again directed his eyes downwards his two friends looked each other. The two kids felt completely helpless. They had no idea how to help their best friend. _

_Liv took the initiative and embraced Jax, as did Opie from his side, and his two friends held him as the blonde boy cried for the first time since he'd been told about his baby brother's death. _

Losing Tommy had been hard on Jax; he was old enough to understand what was going on to some extent, but young enough for the adults to tell him everything. Watching his brother lying in the hospital bed, looking so small and vulnerable had made him so incredibly angry at the world.

When Tommy had been born his father had sat him down to have a talk about an older brother's responsibilities, Jax had been six years old at the time and had taken everything his father told him very seriously. The number one rule for an older brother was to take care and protect his baby brother.

And as he watched the life slowly leave his brother, Jax felt guilty because he couldn't do that.

His father spending a lot of time in Ireland during Tommy's last months hadn't exactly made it easier on Jax. Even though JT was not what one would call present during his last years of life, he was still Jax's hero, his idol, his father. Jax will never forget being called into the principal's office where his mother and Clay were waiting for him.

_Being called to the principal's office was not exactly unusual for the sixteen-year-old son of the local biker gang's President. Most of the students of the local high school feared him and his friends, but there were a few that would like to believe that they could measure him to him and Opie. The two boys quickly proved all of them wrong. So no, this wasn't the first time he was walking down the hallways, as the rest of his classmates were all sitting in class. _

_However this time was different, Jax knew for a fact that he hadn't done anything to get called in. It was Monday and he'd not been a fight this week nor the last one. _

_When he walked through the door and saw the look on Mrs. Wilson's face, the secretary, he knew that something was definitely off. "You can go on in, son" the older woman said, her voice laced with pity. _

_Jax gave her an odd look as he approached the door to the office. As he opened it he came face to face with his mother who looked at him with sad eyes. "Hey, baby" she said as she stepped forward and pulled him into her embrace. _

_Jax was startled, but quickly put his arms around his mother as he glanced at the principal and the man standing in the corner with his arms crossed across his chest and a hard look on his face, Clay Morrow. _

_"What's happened?" Jax questioned as he pulled back from his mother. _

_Gemma Teller placed her hand on her son's cheek, as she looked him in the eye. "It's your dad" she stated and began telling her son about the accident. _

_After his mother had informed him of what had happened Jax rushed to the hospital. As his father was in surgery he had not been allowed to see him so instead he was forced to wait out in the waiting room. Gemma was sitting on his right with Clay's arm wrapped around her shoulder as she leaned in towards him; her head resting on his shoulder. Various members of SAMCRO, hang-arounds, sweetbutts and old ladies were spread out around the waiting room. _

_The sound of running came down the hall and seconds later, Liv and Opie rounded the corner. Without any hesitation the two of them walked over to Jax. _

_While Opie took the seat to Jax's left, Liv kneeled on the floor in front of her friend and put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry, Jax" she whispered in his ear. Jax nodded as he hugged her back and buried his face in her neck._

By just being there she'd helped him through it all; as had Opie. The two of them were his best friends and he'd do anything for them, of that he was certain.

As he returned to the present, he realized that they were about to separate themselves from the rest of the bikers. He scolded himself for letting his thoughts drift like that while he was riding.

* * *

The workout nearly killed her, and she realized exactly how long it had been since she last worked out. She definitely needed to do that more often.

They had been going for almost two and a half hours and the workout had included everything; running, sparring, punching the bag, going through different tactics.

Her entire body was aching as she was walking through the hallways of the manor; after ten minutes of walking around she was forced to face the fact that she'd gotten lost in this huge house. "Fuck" she swore loudly as she turned in all different directions trying to figure out which way to go.

"You're lost?" the question made her swirl around and come face to face with Alice whose blue eyes sparkled with amusement.

"No" Liv denied making Alice raise an eyebrow. "Yeah okay, I'm lost" Liv reluctantly confessed. "I wouldn't have if this house wasn't so damn big though" she defended herself making Alice chuckle softly.

"Don't worry, you're not the first one to get lost in here and are not the last either" she told the slightly younger woman. "I couldn't find my way around here for months" she confessed with a smile.

"Good to know I'm not alone" Liv said with a smile.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your door" Alice said with a gentle smile.

Liv laughed at what it sounded like. "Sounds like we're on a date, doesn't it?" Liv said.

Alice thought about it for a moment and then laughed. "It actually does. Well, what can I say? My mom raised me properly, told me to always walk my dates home" she said with a radiant smile.

As they began walking down the hall Alice looked the woman up and down. "Been working out?" she questioned.

Liv nodded. "Yeah, with your man and Sam actually" she told her.

"I feel sorry for you then, Brian made me learn how to fight when I began going out with him. Wanted to be sure I could defend myself" Alice told her. "Didn't really fancy it though. I'm more of a lover than a fighter" Alice explained to her.

"I know what you mean" Liv stated in agreement.

As they walked to Liv's room the two women talked casually. "Oh by the way, I'm going shopping with Fi and Alana later in the afternoon. You want to come with?" Alice asked as they came to a stop in front of the door, which led to Liv's room.

"Sure, thanks" Liv said with a grateful smile.

"Good, I'll come and pick you up around four-thirty or something" Alice said then turned around and walked down the hall.

Liv opened the door and began stripping out of her clothes as soon as it closed behind her; if she was going shopping she was in a desperate need of a shower.


	11. Chapter 11

As a child it had always amazed Liv how women could walk in heels; especially in those thin heels that looked like they could kill someone if you hit them in the head with it. It probably could kill someone actually.

All around her women were wearing them; the Old Ladies, the sweetbutts, her teachers in school, women she walked past on her way home from school. It truly amazed her.

So when she was given a pair of stilettos by Luanne for her thirteenth birthday she'd been thrilled. Even though Gemma had thought she was too young to be walking around in those kind of heels at the time, she allowed the young girl to explore it. And Liv had been hooked ever since.

Of course she still walked around in her sneakers from time to time, they were comfortable and easy to run in if necessary. But the majority of the time she actually wore heels.

So as she stood in front of the full-body mirror, checking herself out as she waited for Alice to show up, her eyes were immediately drawn to the heels on her feet. Ankle boots in black leather with a stiletto heel. A pair of grey, stone-washed skinny jeans that showed off the few curves she possessed, and actually made her ass look great. A black, biker-style leather jacket from Acne over a casual white tank-top. Very casual, but still good looking. This was definitley Liv's style.

A knock on the door revealed that Alice was finally here. On her way to the door Liv grabbed the black over-sized hangbag with studs on that belonged to her and threw it over the shoulder. Liv opened the door and came face to face with Alice who had a small smile on her full lips.

The slightly older woman looked Liv up and down. "You look great" she complimented her.

Liv gave her a warm smile. "Thank you, I can say the same about you" she replied as her gaze lingered on the on the beige coat that Alice was wearing. "And this is absolutely gorgeous" she said and gestured towards the coat.

Alice laughed softly and nodded in agreement. "I know, it really is, isn't it? Amelia gave me this one last Christmas. And I've loved it ever since" she explained. "Well, shall we go. Fi and Alana are probably waiting for us downstairs" Alice stated and took a step back to allow Liv to step out of the room and close the door behind them.

While walking through the endless hallways, the two women talked about everything. It didn't take long before the conversation came to be about children. "So do you want children in the future?" Alice asked her.

As soon as the questioned registered in her mind, Liv cursed herself for letting the conversation head in this direction. Quickly, as to avoid any suspicions, she shook her head. "No, I don't think it's in the cards for me" she said. It wasn't a lie really, Liv just chose to leave out the fact that it was not by her own will that it was so.

The sadness in Liv's voice didn't escape Alice and she studied the woman beside her carefully. Alice hadn't been told a lot about her; just that she was family and she needed their help. Even though she was married into the Fitzpatrick family she had the same attitude towards family as the others; you take care of it. No matter what these people have done in their past, they are your family and it's your obligation to protect them, to defend them and to love them. One would not survive in this mad world without family.

Something horrible must have happened to the younger woman to put such intense sadness in her voice, but Alice was not about to pry. It really wasn't her business doing so. "I understand, well, Damien seems to really like you" Alice said with a kind smile, which Liv returned.

The young boy really had captured her heart quickly. "He's a sweet boy" Liv complimented the mother as they finally reached the marble stairs leading down to the front door where Fiona and Alana stood waiting.

As her gaze travelled over the two younger women, Liv realized just how much wealth this family must have. Both Fiona and Alana were dressed top to toe in designer clothing.

"You ready to go?" Fiona asked, pulling a hand through her pin-straight black hair which fell down her leather clad back.

Alice nodded in response. "Yes, let's take your car, Fi" she stated. As the four girls walked out of the house they nodded to the two guards standing just outside the door scurrying the area. Liv might have grown up with a motorcycle club constantly present, but this felt surreal, even to her.

* * *

Juice sat by the counter with his laptop in front of him. He'd been working non-stop trying to find some shit on that asshole Zobelle and his right-hand, Weston. These were a different kind of enemy than the club had dealt with before and they needed all the intel they could get.

Suddenly a hand clambed down on his shoulder. Glancing over his shoulder he saw one of the crow-eaters standing there. This one was one of his favourites; long blonde hair, green eyes and an extremely nice rack. "Want some company?" the blonde questioned, her hand sliding down from his shoulder and all the way down his chest then his stomach.

"Sure" Juice drawled and turned back around to shut the laptop when a beep sounded through the otherwise quiet clubhouse. As his eyes travelled across the screen he comprehended what the beep actually meant. His dark eyes grew wide and after a moment of shock, he began to type furiously on the computer.

"Are you coming or what?" the crow-eater who Juice had forgotten about whined from behind them.

"Nah, go fuck someone else" he said and pushed her away, turning his full attention to the numbers on the screen in front of him.

With an annoyed huff the croweater walked away, the sound of her high heels against the floor following her.

At the moment Juice really didn't give a fuck though, as he had just found the first clue to where Liv might be after hours of searching data-bases. Her credit card had been used just now, and Juice could easily track down her location once she had used it.

An excitement he had not felt since she left rose within him. This was his first real opportunity of finding her, and he would be damned if he didn't seize it and fucked to crow-eater instead. It didn't take long for him to track down her location; she was in New York of all places.

Juice thought back to what Liv had shared about herself through the years, but he couldn't find any specific connection to New York. He knew that she had no relatives who were alive on her father's side, but she might on her mother's.

Since it could possibly be a sore subject for Liv, he'd never brought it up. Sure everyone thought he was clueless when it came to socializing, but he had some sense of what to ask and not to ask, well at least a little bit of sense.

So he honestly had no idea if her family on her father's side could live in New York or not, but it was worth a shot. Even if he came up empty handed, he had something to bring to the table at church, but he'd feel better about it if he had some more background information about the situation.

Hacking into the federal databases, Juice pulled up her birth certificate. Scanning through it he found the name of her mother; Connie Donovan, née Fitzpatrick. His thoughts immediately wandered to the notorious Fitzgerald family, he knew for a fact that they resided in New York. Liv was way too innocent and sweet to be one of them though.

Growing up in New York had made him painfully aware of the Fitzgerald family. He'd personally lost two of his friends to them; Ethan and Jorge. The two of them had been stupid enough to borrow some money from Brian Fitzpatrick and Samuel O'Connor, two of the most well-known members of the Irish crime family. When they had been unable to pay the two mobsters back, they'd extracted their revenge. Juice had left New York shortly after that.

As he pulled up her mother's birth certificate, his dark eyes widened. "Holy shit" he mumbled as he leaned slightly closer to the screen to make sure he'd actually read it correctly. There was no mistaking it though. The father of Connie Donovan was named Sean Fitzpatrick, and he was the Head of the Fitzpatrick family.

The hacker couldn't really believe it. Did the Club know about this? Either way he had to tell them about this, so he pulled his cell-phone out and dialed Clay's number.

* * *

Opie sat on the roof later that afternoon thinking about this morning when the pornstar had arrived at Teller-Morrow.

There was no doubt that Lyla was beautiful with that long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Had a nice body too, lean and legs that seemed to go on forever. To top all of that, she was a pornstar. A pornstar with an addiction problem nontheles.

Since Donna he hadn't as much as looked at another woman; he felt guilty every time. But when Lyla drove into T-M this morning he couldn't stop himself from looking, couldn't help his gaze lingering on her on jeans-clad ass as she walked away from him.

And while he still felt some guilt, some shame, he felt something different as well. For the first time he felt a desire to be with someone. Opie didn't know wheather to be scared shitless or happy for this, but either way his thoughts drifted to the letter that Liv had left behind. A particular part of it spoke to him now as he sat on the roof of the clubhouse, looking out over the lot.

_Donna was one of a kind, a truly unique woman who can never be replaced in your heart or in mine. I will reveal a secret that I have never told anyone, I've always wanted the love you and Donna share. That unconditional love that makes you stand by the other no matter what. The love that kept Donna going for those five years you were away, that kept her from divorcing you like you wanted, that kept her from finding a new man, that kept her from ratting you and the club out when given the choice, that made her call Stahl a bitch and tell her to get the hell out of her house. _

_Yes, you had your up and downs, your fair share of problems, but never once did I doubt that you would get through all of it. Because what you had, and still have, is what people refer to as true love and nothing can break the bond of that._

_When I'm writing this letter, I don't know for sure how long I'll be gone or if I'll ever return to Charming. Either way, I hope that you one day can learn to love a woman again. Not like you loved Donna, because there will never be another Donna, but a love that will make you happy, content with your life once again. Because it scares me how I can see the life slowly fade from your eyes. So when you are ready and the opportunity arises, seize it, Ope. Allow yourself to be happy once again._

Opie had no idea if he was close to ready yet, but the opportunity might be there. The question was if he'd seize it or not.

Tears brimmed his eyes as he thought about the two women he'd lost in such a short period of time. For a moment he allowed himself to just sit there and free himself of all thoughts as he took deep breaths. The silent was soon disturbed by his pre-pay ringing loudly. "Yeah?" he said roughly, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

"We've got church in ten, bro. Juice has a lead on Liv" Jax stated, the slight relief in his best friend's voice clear to Opie.

"I'll be there" he stated and shut the phone as a small smile spread across his face.


	12. Chapter 12

Happy was sitting in his chair at the table, leaning back as he listened to his brothers talking around him. The information Juice had brought to the table about Liv was definitley useful; for the first time since she left they had some knowledge about where she was.

When Juice had begun telling them, Happy had felt a slight weight lift from his shoulder that he had now known was there from the beginning. Then Juice had brought up her mother's family, and once again he felt his chest tighten.

"We gotta' consider the fact that Liv might have known about her family, and she chose to not tell us. That's shady" Tig stated.

The thought had occured to Happy too. Liv hadn't spoken much about her relatives on her mother's side, Happy had merely assumed it was a sore subject for her, which he really couldn't blame her for since they'd left her with a father like Frankie. Now he couldn't help but wonder if she had avoided the subject because she knew who they were.

"She probably reasoned that it wasn't important since they weren't around" Jax defended his friend.

When Juice had laid it all out for them, Happy had studied the reaction of the others and drew the conclusion that none of his fellow brothers had known, not even Jax or Opie, and God knows that they knew Liv better than anyone else.

"What are we still sitting here for? We should be on the road, driving to New York to get her skinny ass home and get all of this shit figured out" Tig said pulling Happy out of his head. Happy couldn't help, but agree with what the Sergeant-at-Arms was saying. Knowing that Liv was in Charming with her real family and safe would make his life a hell of a lot easier.

"We need to think this through" Jax stated, making everyone, except Opie, give him shocked looks. Most of them had expected Jax to be the first one on his as soon as he got the info, but now the blonde biker was instead sitting here and saying that they needed to think it through.

Happy felt himself grow annoyed with the Prince of SAMCRO; what the hell was there to think through? Liv was family, and she should be in Charming.

"Watcha' mean, brotha'?" Chibs asked, confused with his VP's reasoning.

"All I'm saying is that Liv chose to go there" he started. "Liv ain't a dumb bitch, she has her reasons. She might even be safer there with all the shit going down in Charming right now. Shit, she's already been hurt once on our watch" he said.

Everyone sat in silence for a moment as they contemplated what the blonde had just said.

"Yeah, and the Fitzpatrick's have the man-power to take out almost every organization if they want to. And they don't allow anyone to hurt their family, no matter who they are" Juice said in agreement.

"Jax is right. We've failed to protect her" Opie stated.

Looks were being exchanged between the brothers. Happy saw the logic in his VP's reasoning, but knew that he'd personally feel better about the whole situation if Liv was with her real family rather than her biological one. He didn't know those fuckers, and neither did any of the others. How could they be so sure she'd be safe there?

"We'll take a vote about it" Clay decided after thinking it through. "Are we gonna' send out someone to get her or not" he clarified. "Yay, this is her home. She belongs here" Clay motivated his vote before all eyes turned on the man to his right, Tig.

"Yay"

"Nay"

"Nay"

"Yay"

"Yay"

"Nay"

"Nay"

"Nay"

Four yay, five nay.

"We'll leave her be for now. At least we know where she is" Jax reasoned as the conversation moved on to the retaliation for what happened to Otto in prison.

Happy leaned back, seething with anger as he thought about Liv being in New York for an unknown amount of time.

* * *

For the first time since she left Charming, Liv decided to turn on her phone. Unsuprisingly she had dozens and dozens of missed calls and messages. Deciding to ignore them for now she dialled one of the few numbers she knew by heart. It didn't take long before the call was answered.

"Liv? Is that you?" the familiar voice made a smile appear on Liv's face.

"Yeah, Gem, it's me" she confirmed. She could hear a breath of relief escape from the Queen.

"Jesus Christ, Liv, it's good to hear your voice" Gemma told her.

"It's better to hear yours. Sorry for leaving the way I did" Liv apologized; she was truly feeling bad about it and couldn't imagine how betrayed she would feel if someone ever did it to her, well her mother had, but she couldn't remember that.

"I don't give a shit about that, Liv. I'm just relieved to hear from you" Gemma assured her. "So where's your skinny ass at?" Gemma questioned.

"In New York, with Sean and his family" she told Gemma.

There were only five people who had known about Sean's visit to the family when Liv was ten; three of them were the people present, the other two were JT and Gemma. The two of them had promised to not share her secret with anyone, and as far as she knew they both had kept that promise. To her knowledge not even Clay knew about it.

"Really? How's that going?" Gemma asked, sincerly curious, but felt a small pang of jealousy as well. What if Liv decided that she'd rather remain with her grandfather and the whole Fitzpatrick clan?

Liv sighed and fell back on the bed, lying on her back as she twisted one of her brown locks around her ring finger. "Better than I could ever have imagined, but it's still a bit weird. They're not you" Liv said honestly.

A small smile spread across Gemma's lips. "No they ain't. When are you planning on coming home?" Gemma asked softly.

Liv sighed and dragged a hand through her her mess of tangled hair. "Don't know yet. I have a few things I have to get done here before I can even think of returning" Liv explained.

"Alright baby, I get that. Just remember that this will always be your home, we'll always be your family" she told the woman she considered her daughter.

"I will, Gem, I will" she promised. Glancing up at the clock she realized she needed to hang up if she was going to be on time. "I need to go, Gem. If you need something just give me a call, alright?" Liv said.

"Yeah, baby, I will. Take care of yourself" the older woman said.

"You too" Liv replied before hanging up and pushing herself up from her lying position on the bed and headed towards the door.

* * *

Gemma sat at the desk in the office, reading glasses resting on the tip of nose as she read through some documents for the shop, when Clay walked through the door opening. As she took in the weary look upon her husband's face, Gemma put the documents aside, took off her glasses and leaned back in the chair. "What's wrong, baby?" she questioned.

"Juice found some info on Liv" Clay stated as he sunk down in the chair beside the door.

"She's in New York with her mother's family" Gemma stated before Clay could even start explaining.

Clay's blue eyes widended slightly and his eyebrows shoot up. Once again his wife amazed him, he had no idea how she managed to get the information before any of the Sons did. "You've wire-tapped Church, haven't you?" he questioned as a small, amusing smile spread across his usually grim face.

"Nah, I've got my own ways of getting information" Gemma responded with a smirk before actually telling him how she knew. "Talked to her on the phone, called me up earlier" Gemma explained.

"How's she doing?" Clay questioned.

"Said she was all good, that it was going better than she'd thought, but that they ain't us" Gemma said, and Clay watched the smile appear on his wife's face as she uttered those last words.

"Damn right they ain't" Clay stated. "Did you know?" Clay asked her seriously, his blue eyes studying her reaction intensely.

"Know what?" Gemma replied.

"About her family, who they are" Clay replied, quite certain that his wife knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah" Gemma answered honestly.

"How?" Clay crossed his arms across his chest.

"Her grandfather, Sean, came here when she was around ten or something like that, caused quite a scene. J.T and I were the only ones she told" Gemma explained; answering her husband's question, without betraying Liv's trust by telling him exactly what happened to the young girl that made Sean Fitzpatrick react the way he had.

"Why have you never told me about her family?" he asked her.

Gemma shrugged. "Not my place" Gemma answered.

Clay raised his eyebrows at his wife's answer. "You don't think the club needs to know that Liv is part of one of the most powerful crime families in America, isn't it your place as an Old Lady to protect the club?" he questioned her, his tone rough.

"I protected the club, J.T protected the club, but we also made sure to protect Liv. She was ten years old, Clay, and she hasn't met any of her family members again until now" Gemma responded, slight irritation in her voice. "And both times have been because of us, because of the club. No, I don't feel like I should have told you about all this shit" Gemma reasoned.

A moment of silence passed the two, Clay's blue eyes trained on the woman in front of him. "Okay" Clay finally said after moments of silence between the husband and wife, and then stood up from the chair. After kissing Gemma, Clay made his way out to the garage.


	13. Chapter 13

As always I want to and love to hear about your thoughts on the chapter and the story as a whole.

* * *

Liv collapsed on the mat, lying on her back as she breathed heavily. Her whole body was covered in sweat; the workout between her and Sam had been intense to say the least.

During the time she had spent in New York, the two of them had connected and had actually become quite close. They had spent hours talking, he had told her about her family here while she had told him about her family back home. Liv had quickly discovered that he was a good listener.

And he was observant, very observant. From the little he had told her about his role in the family business, which was what the Fitzpatrick's with company called their illegal businesses, she had drawn the conclusion that he was involved with the security. His older brother, Arthur, was the head of Security and apparently Sam had become somewhat of a right man to him over the years.

When Sean had decided that Liv needed to learn how to defend herself, he had given the task to Sam who had agreed to it.

"Tired, Donovan?" Sam asked as he sunk down on the mat beside her, his breath heavy as well.

"You have no idea" Liv responded, glancing to the right when she heard the sound of the door opening.

"Auntie Liv!" the child's voice made a smile spread across Liv's face. Damien was another one that she had connected with instantly. The beautiful innocence of the child had lightened her darkest moments over the last weeks, and she would be forever thankful to him for that.

"Hey little man, you just got home from school?" she questioned.

"Yeah, mom and dad picked me up. They said that we could go to the movies tonight if you want!" he told her excitedly as said mom and dad walked through the already open door.

"Yeah? That's awesome!" Liv exclaimed with sincere excitement.

"I know!" Damien responded before motioning to his father to lift him up in the boxing ring. Brian easily lifted his son up in the air, placing the little boy on the mat beside Liv.

"So what are we gonna see?" Liv asked him with a smile.

A thoughtful look appeared on the young boy's face as he pondered over the question.

Letting Damien think his choices through, Liv rolled over on her stomach and smiled at Brian and Alice. "You sure you don't want to come?" she asked.

Alice opened her mouth to respond, but Brian was quicker. "Nope, no way. I'm taking my girl out for the first time in years" he stated, making his wife roll her blue eyes.

"You're exaggerating, babe. You took me out last month" Alice pointed out to him, making Sam chuckle, before she turned towards the woman lying on the mat. "But it would be really nice if you could watch him tonight. There's a restaurant I've been dying to eat at, and we've managed to reserve a table which is kind of impossible" Alice told her.

"No problem, I love spending time with him" she responded, glancing at the little boy who had stopped thinking about his choice of movie, opting to bounce up and down on his Uncle Sam's stomach instead making the older man groan.

"Look mama!" Damien called. "I'm stronger than Uncle Sammy!" he exclaimed with a gleeful smirk, making all four adults burst out laughing.

"That's great, sweetie" Alice assured him.

"Get him, little man!" Brian encouraged his son.

Liv smiled at the scene in front of her; yes the innocence of a child certainly could lighten the world up.

* * *

"That movie was awesome!" Damien exclaimed excitedly as Liv made her way towards the front door of the Fitzpatrick mansion, Damien resting on her hip as he talked about the movie they had just seen.

"Glad you liked it, little man" Liv told him as she gave the two guards outside the door a small smile as they opened it for her. "Thanks" she told the one holding the door up as she walked inside.

The voice of the young child had alerted Joanne to the arrival of the two, and she met them by stairs. "How was the movie, Damien?" Joanne asked her grandchild as she helped Liv remove his outdoor clothing and shoes.

"It was so good, grandma" Damien told the woman and started telling his grandma about the movie. Joanne and Liv exchanged amused smiles over Damien's head.

"It sounds real good, baby, how about we get you into bed though, it's getting late" Joanne suggested.

"Not tired" Damien objected, crossing his small arms across his chest like he had seen his daddy and Uncle Sam do many times before when they were annoyed.

"What if I tell you a story first" Joanne negoiated with the child.

The boy's eyes brightened and he nodded eagerly. His grandma's stories were legendary, the best ever. "Alright, say goodnight to Liv" Joanne told him, and Damien wrapped his arms around Liv's neck making the woman smile softly as she hugged him back.

"Thank you for the movie, Auntie. Goodnight" he whispered in her ear before placing a kiss on her check.

"Goodnight, little man" Liv responded with a soft smile and a kiss of her own on his forehead, then she handed him over to his grandmother.

Joanne gave her granddaughter a smile before heading up the stairs, towards the room Damien used as his bedroom when he stayed over.

With a soft sigh Liv began gathering Damien's clothes and shoes, placing them in the closest where the rest of the family's coats and shoes were loctated, well at least the ones they wore daily.

"Was the movie any good?" the sound of the voice made Liv swirl around, startled by his sudden apperance.

"Yeah actually it was, but you gotta' stop sneaking up on me like that. One day I might knock you out" she warned him making an amused smile spread across his face.

"Knock me out, huh?" he questioned, his brown eyes shining with laughter, Liv nodded.

"Yes, don't you forget that I've been raised by a bunch of bikers. Just saying" she replied with a soft chuckle.

"Right, I'm shaking with fear" Sam replied sarcastically.

Liv was about to respond when the sound of her phone rang thorugh the enourmous room. Glancing down at the display she saw Gemma's name. "I just have to take this real quick" she told Sam before pressing the accept call button and held the phone to her ear.

"Hey Gem, it's not-" before Liv could continue her sentence, she was interrupted by the woman on the other end of the line.

"Liv, we need your help" Gemma stated, and the worried tone in her usually confident voice was apparent.

"What's happened?" Liv asked, an uneasy feeling spreading in the pit of her stomach. Sam's dark gaze studied the woman in front of him, the frown appearing and her blue eyes filled with worry.

"It's the boys, they got arrested" Gemma stated. "They're in San Joaquin with no protection, Liv. This is bad, real bad" she continued.

Even though she was not an Old Lady or Son, she knew it was dangerous to be in prison without protection; Gemma was right, this was real bad. "Bail?" Liv questioned as Sam raised an eyebrow, but Liv ignored him.

"Three hundred thousand" Gemma stated.

"Jesus Christ, Gem" Liv said, shocked by the huge amount of money. "What did they do?" she asked.

"Stormed into a Christian meeting with families, guns drawn and shit. Everything was caught on tape. It was that asshole Zobelle that tricked them" Gemma explained.

"I have some money stashed away, I have to talk to the bank though" Liv stated, still in slight shock.

"We're talking a shit load of money, Liv, where the hell did you get that kind of money?" Gemma questioned suspicious, and disbelievingly.

Liv sighed and drew a hand through her long hair. It was no surprise that Gemma was suspicious about the money, but they weren't from anything illegal. A couple of years before Liv had written a novel that got published, although she chose to do it under a psyeduom, not wanting her real name on the covers of books. The novel had gotten great response and had sold a lot of copies, and it actually got translated into different langues as well.

Her writing had never been something Liv wanted to share with the people who knew her; she was afraid that they would think it was a catastrophe so she kept her secret passion of writing to herself. It had given her some extra money though, and she had saved a lot of it and combined with her savings from before, she would be able to post bail.

The problem was that she needed to be in Charming to get access to that kind of amount of money. "Don't worry about it for now, I'll tell you when all of this is over" Liv said. "I'll be able to post bail tomorrow morning, I'll do it as quick as I can" she promised.

"Alright, call me when it's done" Gemma said. "And thank you Liv, you're saving their lives" Gemma said softly.

"Gem, they are family, you are my family. And we protect family" Liv said before hanging up.

Liv drew a deep breath before turning to face Sam.

The look on his face was a mix of confusion and worry. "What's going on, Liv?" he asked her, the tone in his voice telling her that she better tell him.

"Some of my family back home is behind bars with no protection, they need me to post bail" she explained.

"What did they do?" he questioned.

Liv sighed, she did not want to tell a Catholic man what had went down. "Some real bad, stupid shit" she said, taking another deep breath before continuing. "Do you think you could drive me to the airport? I need to be in Charming as soon as possible so I gotta' book a flight to Stockton or Sacramento" she told him.

Sam looked at her for a moment without responding to her question.

"Sam?" she asked, which made him snap out of it.

"Yeah, of course I'll drive you" he responded before pulling her into a hug.

Liv wrapped her arms around his midsection and leaned into him, her head resting on his chest and it all felt a little better for a moment.

* * *

Three hours later Liv was sitting on an airplane leaving for Sacramento in ten minutes.

As quick as possible she had said goodbye to her relatives, giving Sam the task of explaining her sudden departure to all of them.

The only one she had actually taken time to sit down with and explain it to was Damien; he was just a little kid and she didn't want him to think she had abandonded him.

Then Sam had driven her to the airport, breaking all speed limits without any hestiation. He had understood; he would have reacted the same way if any of his family members was in danger.

And here she was, without her car or any of her clothes and possessions, on her way back to Charming.

She was going home.


	14. Chapter 14

**Another short chapter, but I feel like it's better for me to write chapters and be able to keep up with the story as well as school, work and life. If you have any objections, please share them and I will consider them. As always I love to receive reviews and thoughts on the story. Enjoy the reading!**

* * *

After paying the cab driver, Liv grabbed her handbag from the backseat and stepped out of the cab.

Closing the door behind her, she looked around as a warm sensation filled her tired, sore body. New York had been a nice getaway, but Charming would always be her home. This would always be where her heart was.

After mentally slapping herself for wasting time, she headed towards the bank down the street.

As she stepped through the door a slight smile spread across her face. An old friend of Liv's from high school sat behind the desk. The two hadn't been particularly close, however they had always gotten along well and were still friendly enough.

"Liv, what can I do for you today?" Ashley asked as a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Hey Ash, I need to make a withdrawl" she stated.

"Alright, how much would you like to withdraw?" Ashley questioned as she typed away on the computer.

"Three houndred thousand" Liv stated and waited for her friend's reaction.

"That's a lot of money, Liv" Ashley said, sounding shocked.

"Yeah, well I need it for some things, and I need it now, would that be possible?" Liv asked.

"Uh, yeah, I have to fill in some reports though" Ashley explained.

"No worries, as long as I can get them today. It's kind of urgent" Liv said.

"I just have to inform my boss, one minute" Ashley said and got up from the chair and walked towards the back.

Liv leaned towards the desk and rested her hed in her hands, it was heavy and she was worn out. Right now she just wanted to get the money and post bail, because honestly this was straining her both physically and mentally, as she was sure it did with Gemma and Tara.

Ashley and an older man returned. "Ms. Donovan, I'm certain that you are aware that you need to fill out a report when you are making such a big withdrawl" the man stated.

"Of course" Liv said and leaned in to read his name on the nametag. "Mr. Reese, but the matter is urgent so I would be thankful if we could get this done as quickly as possible" Liv replied politely, but sharply.

* * *

As she walked across the lot of T-M, for the first time since she got the call from Gemma the night before she felt at ease. The bail had been posted and the boys would be released soon.

The door to the clubhouse flew open and Gemma came running out. "Oh, Liv!" Gemma exclaimed as she pulled the younger girl into her warm embrace.

"Hey Gem" Liv said, feeling the tears burn in her eyes.

"Welcome home, baby" Gemma said before leaning back slightly and placing kisses on both of Liv's cheeks.

"Thanks, Gem. It's actually good to be home" Liv said as she smiled towards the older woman.

"Bail is posted, our boys are coming home, Gem" Liv said softly.

"Thank you, Liv" Gemma said, her voice so filled with emotion, shocking Liv. Gemma had always been a kind of woman who could keep her emotions in control if she really needed to, and therefore there were not many moments of Liv's life where she had seen Gemma lose control, but she had a feeling that she was heading towards another one of those moments.

"It's okay, Gem, they will be okay" Liv soothed her, stroking a hand gently over Gemma's highlighted hair.

"Yeah, they will. Our boys are strong" Gemma said with a small smile. "Come on, baby" Gemma said, wrapping her arm around Liv' shoulders, pulling her close to her, as she altered back into the mama bear she truly was. "You look tired, I think you need some sleep before the guys return. You will need your strenght" Gemma said and guided Liv towards the clubhouse.

Liv nodded as she thought about the men she would be forced to face later that day. It frightened her slightly to be honest. Would they think less of her because of the way she left? Would they feel betrayed and abandonded? Or would they not care at all. That would probably be the worst, them not caring if she was gone or not. "Yes, I will" Liv said as they headed inside.

* * *

_Liv was lying in her bed, curled up and her teddy bear in a tight grip. _

_He had done it again. Mistaken her for her mother, mistaken her for an adult. _

_He had been drunk, it wasn't his fault. _

_It was the alcohol's fault. He didn't know what he was doing. _

_The day after he wouldn't remember any of it, and she would never mention it, too afraid to make her daddy angry. _

_So instead she lay in bed and she cry herself to sleep, wondering if this was normal or not._

Liv woke up with a gasp, and sat straight up in bed, breathing heavily. She felt the tears burning in her eyes. It had been months since she had that nightmare last, which was more of a memory than an actual nightmare.

Glancing at the clock on the nightstand table she realized that the guys would be home any moment now. She threw her long legs over the edge of the bed and pushed herself off the bed.

Walking across the cold floor with bare feets, Liv headed towards the bathroom. She was in desperate need of a shower.

After undressing she carefully stepped into the shower, enjoying the feeling the hot water gave her. Liv grabbed the only bottle of schampoo available and began schampooing her long hair.

The sound of the water combined with her being caught up with her own thoughts stopped her from hearing the door to the dorm room open.

"Liv, you here?" the call would have been casual usually, but the tone in his voice was urgent and the last time she had heard his voice he had been yelling at her for being an ungrateful bitch.

She quickly stepped out of the shower and wrapped a white towel around her body, and just as she had her whole body covered the door to the bathroom was thrown open and he stormed in.

As he saw her standing there in front of him, in just a towel, he froze. Their gazes met, his dark with her light, and they just stood there staring at each other. His breath was heavy, as if he had been running.

"Hey" Liv finally said, softly and quietly.

That simple word seemed to make him snap out of his daze as he took a few step forwards and pulled her into his arms, her body flush with his as he held her. Liv wrapped her arms around him, not saying anything, just enjoying the feeling of being back in his arms.

As they stood there Liv's hands travelled over his body, checking for injuries. It was an unconsciouss move on her part, one she had done many times before. Happy chuckled into her hair. "I'm a'ight, baby girl, no need to check on me" het old her, the sound of his raspy voice sending shivers down her spine.

Pulling back she looked into his dark eyes. "Sorry, just wanted to be sure" she stated. "We both know that you wouldn't tell me if you were hurt anyways, you would try to hide it as long as possible" Liv replied making a small smirk spread across his full lips.

"True" he agreed before leaning down and kissing her passionately. Liv wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her hips and lifted her off the ground. Instinctively Liv wrapped her legs around his midsection as they continued kissing. Happy carried her towards the bed and carefully laid her down on it, hovering just above her body.

Liv groaned as he nipped on her ear lobe, but as she closed her eyes the images of her attackers appeared. Her entire body tensed and she pushed him off her, using every ounce of strenght in her to do it. "I can't, I just can't" she said before sitting up in the bed.

A look on confusion appeared on Happy's face before he made the connection. "It's a'ight, baby girl, no rush" Happy said trying to be comforting, placing a hand on her shoulder which made her pull away from him.

"Just please, go away" Liv said before getting up from the bed and hurrying into the bathroom, slamming it close behind her and locking it before Happy even made it out of bed.

"Liv, come on, it's a'ight" Happy said as he walked up to the door, buttoning his jeans and belt.

"Please, Hap, just leave me alone" Liv begged of him.

Happy let out a frustrated sigh as he thought over his options. He could either do what she begged of him or he could break in the door and try to comfort her. Frankly, he had no fucking idea what to do. Emotional women was not his thing. So he opted to what she had asked of him, he left her alone.

As he grabbed his t-shirt and cut from the drawer, he sent the bathroom door and the woman locked in behind it a last look before exiting the door and slamming the door closed behind him.

* * *

Before going to sleep the day before, Liv had been told about the situation with Chibs and the carbomb by Gemma. She had been shocked and terrified at the thought of losing the Scott man who she had grown close to during the years that had passed since he first arrived in Charming.

Liv had decided she needed to go visit the man at the hospital as soon as possible, even though he was still unconsciouss. After everything that she had been told she needed to see him, confirm that he was alive at the very least.

Rounding a corner at the hospital she walked into someone, lifting her gaze she came eye to eye with an exotic looking woman with a slightly crooked nose and darker skin. Liv knew she recognized her from somewhere, but couldn't really place her. "I'm sorry" Liv apologized before giving the woman a small smile and walking past her.

Liv recognized the nurse sitting behind the desk, Nora Walters was a kind woman who had taken care of her during Liv's stay at the hospital. "Liv, sweetie, how are you doing?" the short woman asked as she stood up from her seat and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm alright, Nora, getting by day by day" Liv responded and Nora nodded with a warm smile.

"You're a strong woman, Liv, you will pull through all of this" Nora assured her.

"I hope so" Liv said softly. "Oh by the way, Nora, do you know which room Filip Telford is in?" Liv questioned.

"Yes dear, he's in 201" Nora responded, and Liv thanked her before walking down the hall.

As she walked through the door to the room, her blue eyes met a pair of brown ones. "Chibs, you're awake" she said brightly as she walked forward and carefully hugged him.

"You're back home, lovey" Chibs said happily as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"That I am" Liv said softly as she pulled a chair forward and sunk down into it.

"Tell me everything, lassie" Chibs said with a smile as he leaned back and prepared to listen to her story.


	15. Chapter 15

**One of the scenes in this chapter are from the episode 'Potluck' and I would like to hear what you think about it. Should I include or exclude scenes from episodes? Enjoy!**

* * *

After Liv arrived back to T-M from the hopsital, she saw Jax walk across the lot in long, angry strides. The two of them haven't seen each other since before Liv left for New York; last night he had stormed off and she had gone back to sleep after the whole thing with Happy.

A smile spread across Liv's face when she saw her friend, but it soon disappeared as she saw just how angry he was. "Jax!" she called out, making him aware of her precense.

Jax swireld around and the look of anger was replaced with a look of relief and happiness. "Liv!" he exclaimed as he jogged over to her and pulled her into a hug. "It's so good to have you back, so good" Jax whispered as he rocked the two of them slightly back and forth.

"I've missed you, Jax" Liv replied with a small smile.

"We gotta' catch up later, alright?" Jax said, his voice serious.

Liv knew it was his way of saying 'you better tell me what went down in New York'. "Yeah, sounds good" Liv replied.

"Gotta go, we've got some problems at Cara Cara" Jax explained before placing a kiss on her forehead and heading towards his bike.

A look of confusion spread across Liv's face; since when was SAMCRO inolved with Cara Cara? It might be Luann calling in a favour though.

As she reached the office she saw Gemma sitting in the chair behind the desk, glasses on and everything. Knocking on the door she stepped in without waiting for a response. "Hey, Gem" she said as she sunk down in the chair by the door.

Gemma looked up from the papers in front of her and took off her glasses once she saw who it was. "Good morning, baby, you visit Chibs?" she asked.

Liv nodded. "Yeah, he was awake when I got there. We talked for quite a while" she told her.

"Good, good" Gemma said thougtfully "I'm thinking about having family dinner tonight, think all of us need it" Gemma stated.

Liv nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good idea, Gem, do you need me to go to the store?" she asked. Liv was not an excellent cook, but she was a good shopper.

"That would be great, here let me write you a list" Gemma said and quicky scribled down what she needed for tonight. "Thanks" she said casually as she handed Liv the list of groceries.

"No problem, Gem" Liv replied with a small smile. This felt like old times.

"Oh, and Liv?" Liv was half-way through the door when she heard Liv call out. "We still need to talk about those money" Gemma reminded her, a stern tone in her voice.

Liv nodded."Sure, Gem" she said before leaving the office and heading towards Jax's truck, which she had borrowed. As she was half-way there the sound of a door opening and closing captured her attention.

Four men exited the building, but Liv's gaze was trained on one of them; Happy. It didn't take long for his dark eyes to find her blue ones, and they locked gazes for a moment before Liv looked away.

"Princess, you're back" Clay said, overjoyed as he pulled the woman into a sidehug.

"That I am" Liv confimred with a smile.

Tig's eyes travelled up and down her body, unware of the harsh glare he was receving from Happy. "You look as hot as ever, Liv" Tig commented making Liv scrunch her nose.

"Forget it, Tiggy. That's never going to happen" Liv replied dryly making Clay and Half-Sack chuckle, while Happy was still glaring.

"What are you laughing at, Prospect?" Tig barked making Half-Sack stop laughing instantly.

Liv rolled her eyes and walked over to Tig, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Don't you worry, Tiggy, you will always be my creepy uncle" she promised him with a smile before saying goodbye to the guys and heading towards the truck. As she walked away she could feel his gaze on her. Why did things have to be so complicated?

* * *

Liv sighed aggravated by the store's lack of organizing. Even though she had lived in Charming for the majority of her life, and had shopped at the same grocery store the majority of time, she still couldn't find her way through this store.

Deciding that she might as well just walk around until she found it, she started strolling around the store as she looked through some photos of her and Damien. She missed the little guy.

"Ms. Donovan, no?" the voice made her look up from her phone, and she came face to face with a mean looking man. His dark eyes were trained on Liv, as she gave him a polite smile.

"That's me" she responded, trying to figure out where she had heard his voice before. There was something familiar with it. Something that made her whole body tense up, and her mind to go into defense mode. Who was this man?

"I'm sorry, but I'm in a bit of a rush. Have a nice day" Liv said and walked towards the cash register. The entire way she could feel his eyes on her, and an uneasy feeling spread through her whole body.

* * *

Later that night Liv was sitting on the kitche counter. After bringing the groceries home to Gemma she had showered and changed and was now dressed in a new pair of jeans Gemma had gotten her and a SAMCRO t-shirt, which belonged to Jax.

Liv had considered telling Gemma about what happened in the store earlier, but she figured that Gemma would overreact and tell the club, who in return would react and it would set of a chain recation that was just unnecessary, so instead she decided to keep the uneasy meeting to herself.

"It's about damn time you tell me where you got those money from" Gemma stated as she put the beef into the oven to warm up.

Liv had known this was coming sooner or later, but she preferred it to be later. There was no way she was getting out of this though, so she figured she might as well tell Gemma the whole story. "A couple of years ago I wrote this novel, and by mistake my boss read it and sent it to a publsiher, who in turn liked the novel and decided it was worth publishing" Liv explained.

At first Gemma looked slightly shocked, but as always it didn't take long for her to recover, as she raised an eyebrow at the woman sitting on the counter. "How come you have never told anyone? Why haven't we seen your names in the papers?" Gemma wondered, continuing with the cooking as she waited for a response.

"I didn't want anyone to know, so I published under psyeudo name. I guess I was nervous about what you guys might think about it" Liv revealed.

Gemma's brows furrowed. "Baby, you should never be nervous around us. We'll support you no matter what" Gemma promised, slightly disturbed by the fact that Liv had chosen not to tell them and publish in her real name because she was nervous about what they would think. "What is your psyeudo name? I would love to read your work if that's okay with you" Gemma said gently.

Liv remained silent for a moment. "Kathereine Hastings" she reveleaed, and watched as Gemma's eyes grew wide.

"Are we talking about _the_ Katherine Hastings?" Gemma questioned with a raised eyebrow. Liv fiddles nervously with the hem of her t-shirt. "We are, aren't we?" Gemma said excitedly.

Liv's silence was taken as a yes by the older woman who took a few step forwards and pulled the woman into a hug. "Jesus Christ, Liv, you're real good. I've read all of your books" Gemma said with excitement, as a faint blush spread across Liv's pale cheeks and her gaze was fixated on the floor beneath her.

"Thanks" she said so quietly Gemma almost missed it.

"Hey!" Gemma snapped, catching the attention of Liv who looked at her. "You're talented, real talented. That is nothing for you to be ashamed of" Gemma lectured her.

"Can we just please keep it between the two of us for now?" Liv asked, silently praying that Gemma would agree to it.

"Alright, for now" Gemma said and turned back to the beef in the oven as they heard the door open and close.

A small smile spreads across Liv's face as she spots Tara walking into the kitche, but it quickly fades as she notices the sour look on the doctor's face.

The woman didn't say anything as she walked up to Gemma, she didn't even acknowledge Liv.

Gemma who had just retrieved the beef from the oven turned towards Tara. "Thought you were bringing a sallad" Gemma commented.

"I've been busy" Tara said before turning away from Gemma.

"Hey Tara" Liv said, her voice neutral as she did not want to get stuck in the middle of the fight between the Queen and the doctor, which would most likely accure very soon.

Gemma walked after her, a slight look of confusion apparent on her face. "What?" she questioned.

"This is a hostile work envirement claim filed against me and my proxy by Margareth Murphy" Tara said and held up the white paper she had walked in with.

Liv groaned mentally; what had Gemma done this time? Her work was everything to Tara; she had left everything behind to puruse her dreams of helping others heal. There was no way she was going to let anyone mess with that.

"Huh, are you kidding me?" Gemma asked as she placed her hands on her hips. Even though she was still sitting on the counter, Liv could hear every word of the conversation. "What a bunch of pussys" Gemma commented.

"You threatened her" Tara stated. Of course she had, Liv thought to herself. There was no doubt that Gemma was an intimidating woman, but from what she had seen during her stay at the hospital and Tara's stories about her, so was Margareth Murphy.

"I had a passionate conversation with her in the elevator" Gemma responded. Liv rolled her eyes as she slipped off the counter, a typical Gemma response.

"This is my livliehood, do you have any idea how hard I worked to get to where I am?" Tara said, raising her voice slightly.

Liv could genuinely understand her anger; Tara shouldn't have to suffer under the consequenes of Gemma's actions, especially not at work.

"I get it" Gemma replied. Liv walked over to the counter and began mixing the sallad as she continued to listen to the conversation.

"Do you? This could cost me my goddamn job" Tara argued back, but Liv's attention was no longer on the fight, instead her focus had been re-directed towards the kids and blonde who just walked through the door.

A smile spread across her face as she saw Ellie and Kenny. Liv couldn't help but notice how sad they looked though, and it really pained her. "Ellie, Kenny" she said as she walked over to them and pulled them into a hug, ignoring the fight behind the three of them.

"Hey" Lyla said as she walked through the door, Liv looked up and gave her a kind smile as the blonde looked confused about the whole fight going down in front of her.

"Perfect, serving handjobs for desert?" Tara asked bitterly.

"That's real nice in front of the kids" Lyla stated before placing the platter she had brought down on the table and storming out of the room.

"Was that really necessary, Tara?" Liv questioned her, calmy but irritated. She understood that Tara had a shitty day, but all of them have, and there is no reason to be rude to Lyla because of it.

"Honestly, Liv, I don't care" Tara replied before walking out of the backdoor and into the backyard.

"Auntie Livie" Kenny said as he pulled on the hem of her shirt.

"Yeah buddy, what is it?" Liv asked the young boy.

"What are handjobs?" he asked, innocent like only a child could be. The shocked look on his aunt's face made the boy continue his question. "Tara said we were having them for deserts, are they any good?" he asked her.

Liv didn't really know how to respond to that. "Well, Kenny, we are not having them today. We're having mudcake" she said, hoping that the mentioning of the real desert would distract him from his first question.

"Really?" he asked hopefully, and Liv nodded.

"Oh yeah, and it's real good" she promised him.

The two kids smiled at the thought of the desert. Liv could hear the roar of bikes approaching. "You go play in the living room kids, I'll be there in a minute or so" she told them and pushed them towards the door opening.

It didn't take long until Jax and Bobby walked through the front door. "Hey boys, where's Ope?" Liv questioned as she leaned towards the wall in the entry hall.

"Talking with Lyla, something went down between her and Tara?" Jax asked.

"Well, Tara was fighting with your mom when Lyla walked in and Tara asked if we were serving hands jobs for desert" Liv told the two.

Bobby looked shocked at first and then burst into laughter, while Jax sighed. "Jesus" he said as he pulled a hand through his blonde hair.

"It gets better, Kenny and Ellie were in the room at th time. After Lyla stormed off Kenny asked me what handjobs are and if they were any good" Liv continued, this time both Jax and Bobby was fullout laughing.

"Guessing you didn't tell him the truth?" Bobby asked.

Liv shook her head with a small smile. "Nah, distracted him by talking about mudcake. That boy is a sucker for chocolate" she said with a smile. "Just like Donna was" she added softly.

Before the two Sons could respond, Opie walked through the door holding hands with Lyla. "Come on, we better get in there" Liv said, giving Lyla an encouraging smile. "Just keep your head up, it'll get better" she promised the blonde who nodded, and Opie sent his friend a thankful smile. At the very least he could always rely on Liv to be friendly and open-minded.

As everyone spread out to talk, Liv called on Ellie and Kenny as they were about to eat. As the three of them entered the kitchen Gemma called for everyone to sit down. "C'mon kids, let's get the best seats in the house" Liv joked and hurried fowards, Ellie and Kenny following closely behind.

The sound of the door opening made Liv look up and Clay walked through the door. "Where the hell were you?" Clay questioned, and Liv spotted Happy walking in behind him.

"What you talking about?" Jax questioned.

"I've got two guys lying in hospitals bed and the rest of you decide not to pick up your goddamn phones" Clay questioned, and the look on the older man's face told Liv something bad had gone down.

"We were neck deep in our own pile of shit" Bobby responded.

Tig turned towards the shorter, older man. "We almost got killed trying to take back our guns, man" Tig replied.

Happy stood back and studied the situation playing out before him, at the same time as he kept an eye on Liv. She had a look of worry on her face as she watched the Sons arguing, an arm around each of the kids shoulders.

"Club business, not here asshole" Bobby responded.

Tig pushed him back making Bobby lunge forward to push the Sergeant-at-Arms as well. Happy stepped forward to break this shit up. This shit wasn't good for the club.

"Hey, they were helping me Clay" Opie said as he stepped up.

"Kids, go into another room" Liv ordered the kids sitting beside her. "Now" she ordered sharply when they didn't movie. Both of them stood up and walked out of the room as Liv turned her focus towards the fight once again.

"We had some payback to deliever at Cara Cara" Jax stated.

"Well, hopefully it went a little better than the Tramble task" Tig replied shortly.

Out of the corner of her eye Liv saw a figure in the doorway. Turning her eyes towards the door she saw Hale standing there.

"Oh, blow me shithead" Opie replied.

Liv didn't tear her eyes away from the door, which Happy noticed making him look over his shoulder and he saw the Deputy Chief of Charming P.D standing there. "Excuse me" the man said as he walked into the house. "Sorry to interrupt, I figured I should tell you this in person" Hale stated making everyone quiet down.

Liv had a bad feeling about this. The club didn't need another throw back right now, they were struggling as it was. "We just found Luann Delaney off County 18, beaten to death" Hale told them all.

Liv sucked in a sharp breath. Jax had said something about Cara Cara earlier. What had they done? Was it connected to the death of Luann? Who would tell Otto? A million thoughts flooded through Liv's head as she thought about the blonde porn producer.

"There are no other details right now" Hale stated. "I'm sorry" he said before walking out the door.

Everyone seemed to be in a state of shock. Happy turned his gaze towards Liv, and all he wanted was to go over there and hold her. She looked so lost, so fragile.

Clay turned towards Jax. "Did you cause this?" he asked calmly.

"What are you talking about?" Jax responded.

"Payback at Cara Cara" Clay furthered his question.

"This is on me, Clay" Opie stated.

"And me too" Bobby agreed, and the emotion in his voice was clear.

"What did you idiots do?" Tig questioned.

"I'm not talking to you, asshole" Bobby replied.

Once again Tig lunged at the older man.

Liv burrowed her face in her hands, but she could still hear their shouting.

"I am not the one murdering women" Jax yelled at Clay.

Liv instantly looked up at what he said. What did Jax mean by that?

Suddenly the sound of a platter shattering made everyone stop the fighting as Gemma stood by the table, breathing heavily.

* * *

Liv sunk down in the couch, leaning her head back as she felt a pounding headache coming.

Growing up she had been told that the club was family. J.T had told her that once a man patched into the Sons, everything else took a step back; biological family, hometown, friends, well pretty much everything except the bond one shared with his brothers and the club.

Liv had loved the thought of the club, loved what J.T had believed in. Even though things had changed after the death of J.T, the sense of family within the club had remained.

These days though, it felt like all the love was fading, being replaced with anger and hatred. It hurt to see it play out right in front of her.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw two heads appear in the doorway, carefully looking at the woman on the couch. "Come here" Liv commanded softly. Ellie and Kenny hurried over to their Godmother and sat beside her as Liv placed her arms around their shoulders and pulled them towards her side.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment before Ellie broke the silence. "Auntie Livie, are you sad?" Kenny questioned as his big blue eyes studied her carefully.

"I'm just a little tired Kenny" Liv replied softly. These kids had gone through so much in their short lives, and didn't need her sorrow on top of that. "How is Lyla, do you guys like her?" Liv asked as she looked at both of the kids.

Ellie nodded slowly. "She is nice, and she cooks good food" the young girl said in the porn star's favour.

"Yeah, and Piper is really funny" Kenny reasoned.

"But, she's not mom" Ellie added sadly.

Liv nodded slowly. "You're right Ellie, she isn't. Donna, your mom, she was special" Liv said softly as she glanced down at the kids who looked incredibly sad and lost. "I miss her too, it's alright too miss her. Just remember this; your mom loved you above everything, she didn't want to leave you. Sometimes bad things happen to good people" Liv said as she stroked their hair.

The soft crying of the children pained her to hear. They were too young to be crying about the death of their mother. A death caused by the club.

"We still have you, right Auntie Livie?" Kenny asked after a while, his voice filled with emotion.

"Of course you do. You will always have me, your dad, your grandpa and Uncle Jax. And your mom is watching over you, she's your guardian angel now" Liv told them with a small smile.

"I love you, Auntie Liv" Ellie whispered as she hugged the woman on the couch.

Kenny followed his sister's move. "I love you" he whispered as he burrowed his face in her stomach.

"I love you too, I love you too" Liv said, her own voice breaking towards the end.


End file.
